Photo Collection of Stephanie Wood

Kislak Collection -- Maya Objects

Click here for: Lid detail, Side detail 1, Side detail 2

LARGE BASAL-FLANGE BOWL WITH COVER
Guatemalan Lowlands
Early Classic Maya
C.E. 200-400
Polychromed Ceramic
Total Ht. 31.7 cm (12.5")

Basal-flanged covered vessels were found in Early Classic tombs. On this bowl, we see alternating motifs of a young deer, and an interlocking cosmological symbol, which also appears on the disk-shaped knob in the center of the cover.

The center portion of the lid is encircled by serpent-monster heads with missing lower jaws. Attached to their upturned snouts and at the rear of their heads are the same eccentric flints that surround the center knob. On the flange at the lower rim of the bowl, and on the lid, (the second band from the lower edge) are alternating orange and black step-frets, simulating architectural elements found on temples in stone construction. The remaining motifs of steps represent the ballcourt, where the gods play out their fateful games; the steps become seating for onlookers on either side of the court.

The four monster heads represent the celestial caiman whose body becomes a portion of the Milky Way as it moves across the night sky. It would then appear that this vessel, with its cosmological references, represents a model of the universe.

[Source: http://www.jayikislakfoundation.org/collections_maya3.html]

Photo, ©2004, by Stephanie Wood.