|
HOME :
PRE COLUMBIAN ART :
Pre-Columbian Art Collection/ HK : Mayan Polychrome Bowl in the Form of a Frog
|
 |
|
|
|
Mayan Polychrome Bowl in the Form of a Frog - PF.3099
Origin: San Salvador, El Salvador
Circa: 600
AD
to 900
AD
Dimensions:
5" (12.7cm) high
x 6.25" (15.9cm) wide
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
Additional Information: Hong-Kong
£9,000.00
Location: UAE
|
|
|
| Photo Gallery |
|
|
| Description |
Maya art is a complex of symbols with profound
important social functions. It was mainly
commissioned by kings and other high elite to
fulfill their political and social missions. In many
ways, Maya art is best understood, not as the
portrait of people, but as the portrait of ritual.
The combination of writing with imagery allowed
the time, location, action and actor to be
described with absolute precision. Glyphic texts
reinforced visual narratives recording rituals,
documenting a specific ritual involving a named
individual at a particular time and place. There is
glyphic text encircling the top of this bowl with
alternating glyphs and the Maya number "8". The
number "8" is represented by the "line and three
dot" motif and was painted with a bold black
outlining brush and then filled in with a lighter
shade of gray. There is something unusual
concerning the figurative glyph in that it is
facing to the right, which is actually backwards in
the Maya glyphic texts. The glyph may represent
a hidden message for a particular individual who
used the bowl during a ritual. The entire bowl is
painted in black, gray, orange and red while the
natural color of the clay creates the light yellow
background. Special attention has been given to
the colored bands encircling the vessel and the
geometric designs in black and orange. There is
a black pattern design on the frog's chest, back
and side areas, which continues up to the
naturalistic head with wide mouth and bulging
eyes. The artist has molded the subtle curves of
the frog's legs with such sensitivity and absolute
symmetry that it continues to be a joy to be held
in your hands even today. There is a sense of
sensuality and power that has reached us across
the centuries, even though the message of this
bowl in relation to the ritualistic Maya world and
to the Maya cosmos remains unknown.
- (PF.3099)
|
| |
|
