The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Deer Effigy Vessel

Deer Effigy Vessel

250–600 CE
Overall: 22.8 x 24.7 x 18 cm (9 x 9 3/4 x 7 1/16 in.)

Description

Maya artwork from the Early Classic Period (about AD 250-600) is dominated by three-dimensional sculpture in jade, stone, wood, and especially ceramic. This vessel is an exceptionally elegant example of Maya blackware, produced by firing earthenware pottery in a reducing (low oxygen) atmosphere. The deer is frequently depicted in Maya art, usually as a victim of either hunting or sacrifice. Venus signs and conch shells engraved on the deer also suggest death, for the planet Venus was regarded as a bringer of ill-fortune, and conch shell trumpets were carried by hunters. The small frog or toad pressed firmly under the deer's hoof relates to agricultural fertility. The croaking of these amphibians was a harbinger of rain.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Museum Acquires Major Chuck Close Painting, 19th-century Fire Screen, Rare Prints & Drawings,” June 9, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Young- Sanchez, Margaret, Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 09, November 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: cover, 4-5 archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Deer Effigy Vessel|url=false|author=|year=250–600 CE|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.60