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Cylinder vase
Maya
Late Classic Period
650–750 AD
Object Place: El Petén, Guatemala
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: orange, red, dark pink, brown, gray (originally green), and black on cream slip paint; traces of "Maya Blue" pigment
Dimensions
17.2 x 11.8 cm (6 3/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1176
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
A Maya lord prepares to perform as an old god; a noble lady holds his dance mask. The lord gazes into a mirror held by an attendant while his body is painted in preparation for the performance.
Catalogue Raisonné
MS1119; Kerr 764
DescriptionThe painted scene depicts a man preparing for a ritual performance. He looks into a mirror held by a standing attendant while a kneeling attendant applies red paint to his buttocks. Two women hold performance objects, including what may be a small rattle and a mask depicting an aged male face. Hieroglyphic texts include the Primary Standard Sequence painted around the vase's rim and short phrases painted within the scene that record the activity and name the participants.
InscriptionsPrimary Standard Sequence, nominal phrases, scene descriptive phrase.
ProvenanceBetween about 1974 and 1981, probably purchased in Guatemala by John B. Fulling (b. 1924 – d. 2005), The Art Collectors of November, Inc., Pompano Beach, FL; May 20, 1987, sold by John B. Fulling to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1988, year-end gift of Landon Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 1989)
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.