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HOME :
PRE COLUMBIAN ART :
Pre-Columbian Art Collection/ HK : Copador Style Mayan Painted Terracotta Bowl
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Copador Style Mayan Painted Terracotta Bowl - PF.6107
Origin: El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras
Circa: 300
AD
to 900
AD
Dimensions:
2.75" (7.0cm) high
x 7" (17.8cm) wide
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
Additional Information: Hong-Kong
£9,000.00
Location: UAE
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| Description |
The most interesting feature of this bowl is its
bottom. Indented lines radiate outwards from
the center of the vessel at sharp angles,
producing a lovely rhythmic effect. The concave
exterior rim of the bowl is decorated with a
series of seated figures. Elegantly dressed in a
feathered headdress, ear spools possibly made of
jade, and a fanciful costume replete with flaring
elements that extend from his back, this figure
represents an elite member of the Mayan
hierarchy, likely a king or shaman. The interior
of the bowl is adorned with a series of painted
turkeys. These charming birds hold what may
represent a worm or other such grub in their
beaks. Turkeys were a staple of the Mayan diet,
and perhaps these birds were meant for ritual or
daily consumption. Presumably, this bowl had a
ceremonial function that is lost to us now,
perhaps somehow relating to the painted
imagery. How do the seated man and the turkey
relate to each other? Discovered in a tomb,
buried alongside a fallen ruler or important
dignitary, this bowl was as essential for the
afterlife as it no doubt was in this world.
- (PF.6107)
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