Pre-Columbian, Honduras/El Salvador, Mayan Copador, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A lovely polychrome turtle effigy vessel, the upper body with concave walls leading to a slightly flared rim and a rounded lower section to represent the turtle's plastron. The piece is further decorated with an emerging head, tail, and legs in low to high relief, stylized glyphs (some possibly variants of the glyph for turtle) painted on the concave shoulder, circular egg-like forms beneath the head and tail, and cross-hatched matrices dotted with circular motifs, once again probably referencing eggs. Turtle imagery represented the watery surface separating the sky from the underworld. The turtle also served as an earth metaphor and had fertility connotations. In addition, the turtle was believed to be an ally of the Maya rain god Chac. Its carapace was worn by Mayan bacabs, avatars of the rain god, and oftentimes turtle shells accompanied Mayan rulers in their graves to ensure new life and fertility in the Otherworld. Size: 6.75" W at widest point x 3.875" H (17.1 cm x 9.8 cm)

Provenance: private D. C. collection, California, USA; The collector is an Emmy Award Winning Hollywood writer and Executive Producer, collected before 2000.

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#126466

Expected surface wear with a few scuffs and minor pigment loss commensurate with age. Areas of nice manganese deposits as well. Old inventory label on underside.