Pre-Columbian, Mexico and northern Central America, Mayan Territories, Late Classic, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A fantastically-painted ceramic dish, standing on three unpainted, conical legs. The exterior body is also unpainted, with a narrow, well-defined ring around its lower body, perhaps to make the dish easier to lift. The interior has a beautiful motif of the god Chaac; a ring of three glyphs is around the exterior rim. Size: 12.25" W x 4" H (31.1 cm x 10.2 cm)

Chaac (Tlaloc to the Aztecs) is the Mayan rain deity, who with his axe made of lightning, strikes the clouds and produces thunder and rain. As here, Chaac is often depicted with a long, bulbous nose and fangs in a non-human head; the body often has lizard-like scales. A large round shell serves as an ear ornament - here painted white with black fine-line geometric decoration.

The Mayan Classic Period was marked by wealthy city states ruled by hereditary nobles whose courts supported a retinue of priests and scribes whose importance and number seem to have grown throughout the period. Building on the proto-glyphs of the Olmec, they created a written language that was closely related to - and sometimes indistinguishable from - art.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex T. Misenhimer collection

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#132616

Repaired and restored from multiple pieces, with some overpainting in restored areas but plenty of original pigment remaining. Nice manganese deposits on surface.