Pre-Columbian, Central America, Honduras, Ulua Valley, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. An impressive pottery bowl displaying a flattened base and sturdy walls adorned with 3 monkeys below a horizontal row of serpents, all carefully delineated in hues of black, red, and burnt orange on a tangerine-colored ground. Facing right, each of the simian figures stands upon bent legs and raises both arms, bending at the elbows and turning hands inward, as their sinuous tail coils behind them. A band of linear motif is displayed above them and separates them from the 11 serpents with slender, undulating bodies. Size: 8.6" Diameter x 4.7" H (21.8 cm x 11.9 cm)

Monkeys were prevalent in the Mesoamerican lowlands, with the two most common species being the howler monkey and the spider monkey. However, the monkeys depicted on hachas are highly stylized, abstracting the monkeys' essential characteristics. Monkeys were represented often in various art forms, including stone pedestal sculptures, mushroom stones, architectural reliefs, ceramic figures, whistles, and effigy vessels, as well as hachas for the traditional ballgame.

Cf. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, object number 2004.24.32687.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#172996

Some minor nicks and possible small areas of repainting. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive remaining pigments and nice manganese deposits.