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Portfolios%20%3D%20%221685%22%20and%20Century%20%3D%20%228th-9th%20centuries%22
Ceramics
Vase
Maya artist, (active )
Maya artist
Mexico
Primary
6 x 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (15.2 x 16.5 x 16.5 cm)
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Clay
Clay
Maya; made in Chama, Guatemala
ca. 800 CE
795
805
Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Ceramics
This vase from Chama, Guatemala has the characteristic black and white chevron bands found along the tops and bottoms of vases from this area. The painted figure sits cross-legged on the floor and gestures outward with his right hand. From this profile view, it is easy to see the graceful slope of his head resulting from cranial modification, the shaping of the human skull during infancy (while still soft and growing). The Maya based their standard of beauty on the figure of their Corn God. They believed a long, tapered head was most beautiful as it mimicked the shape of an ear of corn.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1972.9
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
72.9SL1
slide
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
72.9DI1
digital image
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/72.9_A1.jpg
72.9DI#2
digital image
7/28/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/72.9_A2.jpg