Pre-Columbian, Highlands (Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 950 CE. A spectacular pottery plate, intricately hand-painted with the central tondo of a truncated figure surrounded by a band of jaguar pelts, all in hues of burnt orange, apricot, bluish gray, black, and tangerine. Facing left, the figure holds out an atlatl in one hand as he emerges from a plumed container and wears an elaborate headdress. The jaguar pelts are also complex in design, boasting geometric motifs of squares, triangles, and circles. The vessel itself exhibits a shallow basin and walls that gently rise to a flared rim with a jagged ring encircling the exterior, surrounding the area where 3 legs previously supported the dish. Note the ceremonial kill hole drilled at the center of the dish! Size: 12.8" Diameter x 2.2" H (32.5 cm x 5.6 cm)

The Maya Classic phase is so named because it was the peak of their artistic and cultural achievements. Part of this, as in many societies, included highly specialized consumable goods. Elaborate plates like this one were designed to be instantly distinguishable from those used for everyday eating or drinking - not just in decoration, but also in quantity produced, making this a much rarer find than a piece of domestic pottery. Instead, a bowl like this was placed into a tomb as an offering.

Provenance: private Bakersfield, California, USA collection; ex-Arte Primitivo, New York, New York, USA, March 11, 2022, lot 207; ex-private Southwest, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA, February 1, 2013, lot 62; ex-prominent Hollywood, California, USA collection; ex-Ron Messick Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; ex-Sotheby's, New York, New York, USA, November 17, 2006, lot 423

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#172453

Missing legs. A stable hairline fissure of about 5 inches in length extends from the rim. Light surface wear. Otherwise, intact and excellent. Impressively preserved with great remaining pigments and detail and mineral deposits and root marks.