Bowl with Abstract Design
Artist:
Unknown
General region:North and Central America
Place made:Guatemala
Culture: Maya
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. A.D. 800-900
Medium: Earthenware with paint
Dimensions:
h. 5 in. (12.7 cm); diam. 7 in. (17.8 cm)
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: 72.42.15
Provenance: by purchase by the Witte Museum Shop, San Antonio, TX, 1972; by transfer to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1994
Label Text
The geometric patterns painted on this polychrome bowl were imbued with meaning to the Classic Maya. The larger black dots may represent jaguar markings. Elites and rulers were often depicted wearing jaguar pelts. They did so, in part, as a sign of power and primacy in the social and political hierarchies, just as the jaguar stands in the animal kingdom. (Bernadette Cap, 2021)
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.
