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Details / Information for Plate

Plate

c. 800

Mexico, Campeche, Maya

Medium
earthenware with colored slips
Measurements
Overall: 6.5 x 41.5 cm (2 9/16 x 16 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.182
Public Domain
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Location
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Print
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Did You Know?

Apex predators like jaguars are natural power metaphors.

Description

Its pose and jewelry suggest this flamboyantly painted figure may represent a human clad in the skin of a jaguar. Because the jaguar is the largest, most powerful predator in Mesoamerica, it was a natural metaphor for earthly and supernatural power alike.
A circular ceramic vessel is painted burnt orange with dark brown and cream detailing. It depicts a spotted creature facing left with an open mouth and breath lines emerging from its snout. The figure features a large eye, dark spots across its body, and red and brown bands wrapping its limbs. Its hands display long, curved claws. A dark, scalloped border encircles the rim of the plate's smooth surface.

Plate

c. 800

Mexico, Campeche, Maya

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