The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Carved Vessel
c. 600–1000
Overall: 12.1 x 16.3 cm (4 3/4 x 6 7/16 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The text on the rim mentions a young man, suggesting this vessel was involved in a rite-of-passage ceremony.Description
A firefly is carved on both sides of this Maya vessel, which is from the Yucatán Peninsula. Among the most common of insects to appear in Maya art, the firefly seems to be associated with things that twinkle in the dark—stars and cigars, the latter a symbol that identifies creatures of the night.- ?-1958(Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1958, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)1958-1990James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art1990The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Referenced: cat. no. 83, p. 272, Reproduced: fig. 83, p. 256 www.jstor.orgMaurer, Evan M., and Molly Hennen. Symboles sacrés: quatre mille ans d'art des Amériques. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002. p. 110, Cat. No. 83
- Sacred Symbols: Three Thousand Years of Native American Art [FRAME]. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (July 16-September 29, 2002); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen, France (October 24, 2002-January 13, 2003); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 69001 Lyon, France (February 19-April 29, 2003); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (May 27-August 18, 2003); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (October 26, 2003-January 11, 2004).The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).
- {{cite web|title=Carved Vessel|url=false|author=|year=c. 600–1000|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.173