The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Cylindrical ceramic vessel slightly taller than it is wide with figures outlined in black with orange accessories against a cream background. A figure on our left, holds a spear pointing down, wearing a black-dotted shirt and headdress with a human face represented on it. On our right, a more plainly dressed figure puts another in a headlock. Orange banners with hieroglyphs hang between figures. Cream on yellow hieroglyphs, a symbolic writing system, rim the vessel.

Vessel with Battle Scene

600–900

Mesoamerica, Maya, Nebaj region, Late Classic Period, 7th-10th century

ceramic and slip
Overall: 17.2 x 15.4 cm (6 3/4 x 6 1/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2012.32
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Did You Know?

The Maya drank a chocolaty beverage with a spicy kick! Made using cacao seeds and chili peppers, the drink was consumed out of vessels like this one.

Description

Likely used as a political gift, this vessel depicts the presentation of prisoners in the aftermath of battle. A front-facing lord turns to review ten elegantly drawn warriors, some stripped of battle regalia and others dressed in elaborate headgear and garments, including tunics made of jaguar pelts. The hieroglyphs encircling the rim dedicate the vessel, used to drink an elite beverage made of cacao (chocolate) beans.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 02, March/April 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 17 archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Vessel with Battle Scene|url=false|author=|year=600–900|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.32