Bowl with Glyphs on Rim
Artist:
Unknown
Place made:Guatemala
General region:North and Central America
Culture: Maya
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. A.D. 600-800
Medium: Earthenware
Dimensions:
h. 5 in. (12.7 cm); w. 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: 72.42.19
Provenance: by purchase, Witte Museum Shop, San Antonio, TX, 1972; by transfer to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1994
Label Text
Just below the rim of this bowl are three groupings of pseudoglyphs, each made up of two glyph blocks. Maya epigrapher Marc Zender has suggested that the artisan who inscribed the glyphs had great knowledge of the writing system. The layout of the glyph blocks is correct, a few pseudoglyphs mimic readable glyphs, and there are two readable glyphs on the vessel. Within the rim text is a glyph variant for "bird." The second readable glyph - ik' - is the T-shaped decorative element that is repeated around the body of the bowl. In Mayan languages, ik' means wind, life, breath. (Bernadette Cap, 2021).
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
