Mayan chocolate beaker. Mesoamerica, AD 500-800.
Sculpted ceramic.
Measurements: 20 x 15.5 cm.
Cylindrical bowl intended to hold cocoa, a star food in Mayan society. Such was the success of chocolate that there was a special pottery made exclusively to hold it. Mayan vases or cylinders are an inexhaustible source of information about their culture. They are a privileged medium where they were able to capture their imaginary with great mastery: they provide information about the history and life of the elites, but above all they are an important element for learning about mythology; both the images of the gods and the myths, frequently accompanied by glyphs indicating the name of the person or god, which define the activity they are representing. Sometimes other types of inscriptions appear on Maya vases, the so-called dedications, which name who paid for the making of the vase, for what purpose and, in some cases, the name of the author. In this way we know what shape was used to contain which liquids; concave and cylindrical vessels were used to store drinks to be consumed during the feasts of the privileged classes, especially chocolate. These valuable vessels were exchanged by diners or given as gifts to each other.