**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, El Salvador, Maya Culture, Copador, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A gorgeous hand-built earthenware bowl displaying a round base, flared walls, and an annular rim all elaborately decorated in vibrant hues of orange, red, green, and black. The exterior of the bowl features a register of several abstract seated human figures, each one holding out enormous hands and offerings to a deity, above a register of a braided motif. Alternatively, the interior walls present a repeated design of an avian-esque creature, likely a glyph surrounding a central tondo of another glyph. A pair of thick bands additionally adorns the interior of the flared rim. Size: 9" in diameter x 4" H (22.9 cm x 10.2 cm)

These ancient glyphs may convey an important date, a secret message, or simply be part of the vessel's aesthetic program. According to Dorie Reents-Budet, "One of the remarkable characteristics of Classic Maya painted pottery is the use of writing as more than simply a way to communicate ideas. As in the Islamic tradition, Maya artists employed calligraphy as a prime design feature and as an integral part of the total composition? The hieroglyphic texts also were used as compositional devices, placed specifically to help define the internal tensions, balances and divisions within the pictorial field." (Dorie Reents-Budet, "Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period", Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1994, page 12)

Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2010

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#164236

Repolished and repaired from several pieces with restoration and repainting over break lines. Restorations to rim. Expected miniscule nicks and light abrasions in some areas. Otherwise, excellent with nice pigments.