Description:

Pre-Columbian, Maya Territories, ca. 200 to 900 CE. An amazing pectoral, made of a slab of brownware with applied brownware details. At its center is a skeletal face - suggested just by its empty eyes - wearing an enormous headdress. Applied pierced circles stud its surface, surrounding the skull; an incised cylinder marks out the top of the piece. There are the remains of red pigment on the background slab. The back has projections of pottery designed to make it stand up rather than lie flat. Size: 6.75" W x 4" H (17.1 cm x 10.2 cm)

This pectoral was made not to be worn, but to be placed on a statue or to be placed in a tomb. The skull on the pectoral is a use of a common Mayan iconographic theme: death personified, put into god form.

Provenance: Ex-Private LA County collection acquired in the 1980's

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#119029

  • Condition: Intact on its front with old losses to the edges of the undecorated back; little signs of wear.

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January 19, 2017 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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