The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Red-brown ceramic seated figure with a headdress about the same size as their body that fans out over their head. The figure sits on a ceramic box, their hands resting on their knees and with a cloth hanging over their torso with an oval, open-mouthed face surrounded by four spheres in the center. The figure has a wide, eyes with small holes for pupils, and circular ear ornaments.

Seated Lord with Removable Headdress

600–800

Mesoamerica, Maya, probably Jaina Island, Late Classical period, 7th-9th century

ceramic and slip
Overall: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2012.33
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Did You Know?

It is estimated that some 20,000 people were buried on the tiny island of Jaina over a 500-year period.

Description

The major Maya grave offerings on Jaina Island were ceramic figurines that depict deities and humans in a variety of roles. The standing figure represents a warrior who once probably held weapons and wears either quilted cotton armor or the feathered uniform of a military order. The seated figure also represents a male, perhaps another warrior, who wears a huge zoomorphic headdress. A skeletal face with articulated jaw descends from the headdress to fit as a mask over the figure’s face.
  • 1968-2000
    Collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute (MWPI), Utica, New York (accession number 68.76)
    2000-2012
    Private Collector, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2012-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mann, C. Griffith. “Acquisitions 2012.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 53, no. 2 (March/April 2013): 10-25. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 17 archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Seated Lord with Removable Headdress|url=false|author=|year=600–800|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.33