Maya, Jaina Island, Campeche, Mexico
500–900 AD
Mold-made clay with polychrome slip traces
Root marks present
Height 11¼ inches (28.6 cm), width 5½ inches (14 cm)
Provenance: Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, item #146 3298
This large figural rattle depicts a standing figure wearing an elaborate fan headdress of layered feathers rising above a mask or deity head at the crown, with traces of blue-green pigment surviving on the headdress and jewelry. The face is fully rendered with white-painted eyes, ear ornaments, and a grimacing open mouth, and the chest carries a modeled pectoral with relief detail. The figure holds an object in one hand, and the whole composition has the density and specificity of a high-status tomb offering. The piece is mounted on a lucite base.
At 11¼ inches this is among the larger known Jaina figural rattles, and the survival of polychrome pigment on the headdress and ornaments is unusual given the typical condition of burial ceramics. The feathered fan headdress with its layered quill detail and the deity mask at its base point to a figure of elevated rank within the Jaina iconographic repertoire. The Stendahl Gallery in Los Angeles was the foremost American dealer of pre-Columbian material through the mid-twentieth century, and Stendahl provenance provides one of the strongest pre-1970 collecting chains available for material of this type.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Maya, Jaina Island, Campeche, Mexico
500–900 AD
Mold-made clay with polychrome slip traces
Root marks present
Height 11¼ inches (28.6 cm), width 5½ inches (14 cm)
Provenance: Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, item #146 3298
This large figural rattle depicts a standing figure wearing an elaborate fan headdress of layered feathers rising above a mask or deity head at the crown, with traces of blue-green pigment surviving on the headdress and jewelry. The face is fully rendered with white-painted eyes, ear ornaments, and a grimacing open mouth, and the chest carries a modeled pectoral with relief detail. The figure holds an object in one hand, and the whole composition has the density and specificity of a high-status tomb offering. The piece is mounted on a lucite base.
At 11¼ inches this is among the larger known Jaina figural rattles, and the survival of polychrome pigment on the headdress and ornaments is unusual given the typical condition of burial ceramics. The feathered fan headdress with its layered quill detail and the deity mask at its base point to a figure of elevated rank within the Jaina iconographic repertoire. The Stendahl Gallery in Los Angeles was the foremost American dealer of pre-Columbian material through the mid-twentieth century, and Stendahl provenance provides one of the strongest pre-1970 collecting chains available for material of this type.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
