Pre-Columbian, Central America, El Salvador / Honduras, Maya, Copador Type, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A hand-built pottery bowl covered in fascinating glyphs, pseudoglyphs, and stylized human figures / scribes. The bold interior basin shapes or pseudoglyphs and the colors - especially the red pigment which contains specular mineral flecks that shimmer- are all characteristic of the copador style so called for the Maya archeological site Copan in modern day Honduras. Size: 8.375" Diameter x 3.125" H (21.3 cm x 7.9 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-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, acquired prior to January 1, 2010

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#174915

Minor nicks and age expected surface wear throughout, otherwise intact without repairs. Fading and chipping to pigments, but motifs are clear and discernable. Areas of manganese blooms throughout.