Artwork Page for Painted Vase with Ruler and Scribe

Details / Information for Painted Vase with Ruler and Scribe

Painted Vase with Ruler and Scribe

600–900

Guatemala, Northern Peten or Mexico, Southern Campeche, Maya, late Classic

Medium
pottery with burnished, colored slips
Measurements
Overall: 24.5 x 10.5 cm (9 5/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.181
Public Domain
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Location
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Print
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Did You Know?

A string of death glyphs below the rim departs from the Primary Standard Sequence.

Description

Among Maya noble families, finely painted ceramic vessels were used as fancy tableware, treasured gifts that secured the support of allies, and funerary offerings placed in tombs. Accordingly, the vessels’ imagery varies from religious themes to scenes of courtly life. Here, two attendants kneel before an enthroned nobleman who wears an enormous bird-head headdress.
A cylindrical pottery vase depicts figures painted against a beige background. In the upper two-thirds sits an orange painted figure with a brown feather-textured cloak and a black, white, and orange bird headdress. Below this an orange strip dotted with beige shapes separates the lower third in which a kneeling peach colored figure bends toward the ground, holding a vessel.

Painted Vase with Ruler and Scribe

600–900

Guatemala, Northern Peten or Mexico, Southern Campeche, Maya, late Classic

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