Pre-Columbian, southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A lovely pottery bowl with an incised register encircling the rim containing glyphs highlighted with white pigments. The ribbed and hemispherical lower body also creates a pumpkin or gourd shaped presentation - these fruits were a vital crop for the Maya! The ancient glyphs may convey an important date, a secret message, or simply be part of the vessel's aesthetic program! Size: 8" Diameter x 3.5" H (20.3 cm x 8.9 cm)

According to Dorie Reents-Budet, "One of the remarkable characteristics of Classic Maya painted pottery is the use of writing as more than simply a way to communicate ideas. As in the Islamic tradition, Maya artists employed calligraphy as a prime design feature and as an integral part of the total composition… The hieroglyphic texts also were used as compositional devices, placed specifically to help define the internal tensions, balances and divisions within the pictorial field." (Dorie Reents-Budet, "Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period", Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1994, page 12)

Provenance: ex-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, acquired prior to January 1, 2010

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#174837

Repaired from many pieces with visible hair line break lines as shown. Heavy mineral and earthen encrustations throughout. Great preservation to glyphs and pigments.