Description:

Pre-Columbian, Honduras, Maya, Ulua Valley, Dedalos type, early classic Ulua I period, ca. 450 to 550 CE. A hand-built pottery cylinder vase decorated with 4 human figures stooping among fruitful cacao trees. Each figure in front of large coca plants and picks off seed pods for use in various Maya dishes but most importantly the cacao drink. Vessels like this were used for consuming the sacred chocolate drink by people of all ranks and castes. The Dedalos type is rare due to its narrow dating window, and the indented base is characteristic of this pottery. Dedalos pottery was known as the "Mayoid" type in the 1930s and 1940s. Size: 6.5" x 7"

The original repair shown as two small drilled holes in the upper rim shows how important the original owner considered this piece. Of the hundreds of Maya cylinders we have handled, this is perhaps the 5th that depicts cacao pods. It also shows the probable lack of "literacy" among Ulua artists as the glyph band along the top would probably have shown the cacao glyoph had this been created in the Peten region of Guatemala.

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

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#189441

    Condition:
  • Repaired from about 8 pieces - including old original repair, repainting over the breaks, all pieces are present, paint very vibrant as shown.

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November 15, 2024 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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