**Originally Listed At $350**

Pre-Columbian, Guatemala, Maya Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A trio of mold-made, diminutive pottery jars, of a form known as a "poison" jar. Two have anthropomorphic faces projecting from their sides. The third has a simple body segmented in four vertical panels by incised lines. Each is capped by a slightly narrowed spout with a ride rim. Size: 1.5" W x 2.3" H (3.8 cm x 5.8 cm)

The Maya Classic phase is so named because it was the peak of their artistic and cultural achievements. Part of this, as in many societies, included highly specialized consumable goods. Elaborate vessels like this one were designed to be instantly distinguishable from those used for everyday eating or drinking - not just in decoration, but also in quantity produced, making these a much rarer find than your average piece of domestic pottery. They were also made to be for only a single, specific function - in this case, to hold something valuable. Traditionally, items like this one have been known as "poison" or "medicine" bottles, in part because of their comparison to bottles used by other native North American groups, but depictions of people using the flasks in artwork as well as residue analysis on archaeological examples suggest that they may have had other uses. They are often found in the context of burials, filled with red pigment like cinnabar or hematite, but with the remains of other things underneath the pigment (as if they were used in life and then filled with color in death). Because of their size, they must have been made to contain things not required in large quantities - indeed, poisons or medicines, but also perfume, tobacco, and ritual drugs like powdered mushrooms.

Provenance: private D. C. collection, California, USA; D. C. is an Emmy Award winning Hollywood writer and Executive Producer, collected before 2000

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#126518

Two are intact, the third (largest) has two small stable cracks around the rim. All have areas of remaining pigment.