Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Mayan Territories, Maya, Pre-classic Period, ca. 1000 to 100 BCE. A large seated deity figure, hand-carved from a porous volcanic stone. The figure perhaps represents a deity of the underworld given its expressive and abstract presentation defined by his squatting position, hands folded over knees, and a sizeable, oblong head. The archaic visage is comprised of almond-shaped eyes, deep facial wrinkles, an open mouth with full lips, and arching eyebrows, all beneath a bulbous brow line. This stone sculpture may have served as an informal funerary statue or was perhaps meant to guard the entrance to a sacred site used to communicate with or traverse to the underworld. Size: 6" W x 10" H (15.2 cm x 25.4 cm).

The Mayans were a particularly spiritual society that believed most everything in the world of the living had a connection to the underworld. The Mayan underworld is referred to as Xibalba, which roughly translates to "the place of fear." Archaeologists believe that the Mayan fascination with the underworld may stem from the extensive cave systems which run beneath most of the Mayan territories of Southern Mexico and Central America and all the way into Guatemala. Mayan priests and shamans would ritualistically enter the cave systems, venturing deep within to find the threshold where the realm of the living and the land of the dead met. They would then conduct religious ceremonies, ritual sacrifices, and extend offers to the deities which controlled the underworld so as to garner their favor in healing the sick and ensuring a fertile harvest, though the exact purpose for these spiritual journeys unclear.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Butterfields (Bonhams)

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#131982

Surface wear commensurate with age, small nicks to base, bodily features, and face, with fading to some carved details, and minor losses to back of head, otherwise excellent. Nice earthen deposits throughout.