Director's Pick 4 - Museum of Art and Archaeology-University of Missouri

Mayan Vase, probably area of Calakmul (84.179)

Vase with Glyphs
Mexico, perhaps Campeche
Maya, Late Classic
ca. 600-900 CE
Pottery
(84.179)
Gift of Bernard Sperling

Director's Comments
I don't know anything about Yopat B'alam (except that the name may mean 'crown-jaguar'), but it seems this vessel was made for him as "his cup for fruity [cacao]." The glyphic inscription was read for us by Harvard University's David Stuart, while Barbara Fash assisted in explaining the iconographic forms depicted on the vessel's body.

Mayan iconography forces us to step beyond debates over conventional meaning and consider both what an object means (especially in the Panofskian sense) but also how it means. That appeals to me in particular because I study the iconography of the so-called Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC), a religious and artistic style that linked parts of eastern North America - including Missouri - from about 1100-1400CE. Such iconographic systems are just as complex and formal as more familiar European or South Asian examples, but because we lack most of the narratives behind them we must interpret them based almost solely on the visual cues contained within the representations themselves.

Engraved shell gorget depicting a jaguar, from Benton County, Missouri (courtesy of the MU Museum of Anthropology, shown from the Museum of Art and Archaeology’s Before Columbus: Iconography in the Ancient Americas exhibition)

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Home \| Collections \| Six Picks - Director's Favorites \| Mayan Vase Mayan Vase, probably area of Calakmul (84.179) Vase with Glyphs Mexico, perhaps Campeche Maya, Late Classic ca. 600-900 CE Pottery (84.179) Gift of Bernard Sperling Director's Comments I don't know anything about Yopat B'alam (except that the name may mean 'crown-jaguar'), but it seems this vessel was made for him as "his cup for fruity [cacao]." The glyphic inscription was read for us by Harvard University's David Stuart, while Barbara Fash assisted in explaining the iconographic forms depicted on the vessel's body. Mayan iconography forces us to step beyond debates over conventional meaning and consider both what an object means (especially in the Panofskian sense) but also how it means. That appeals to me in particular because I study the iconography of the so-called Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC), a religious and artistic style that linked parts of eastern North America - including Missouri - from about 1100-1400CE. Such iconographic systems are just as complex and formal as more familiar European or South Asian examples, but because we lack most of the narratives behind them we must interpret them based almost solely on the visual cues contained within the representations themselves.	Collections Six Picks-Director's Favorites Recent Acquisitions African Ancient Americas Ancient Coins Antiquities Asian Byzantine/Medieval Cast Gallery Contemporary European/American Oceanic Visiting Researchers >> Grad. Research Asstships. >>
Copper repoussé human-avian composite figure from Etowah, Georgia, Mound C ca. 1275 CE.
Engraved shell gorget depicting a jaguar, from Benton County, Missouri (courtesy of the MU Museum of Anthropology, shown from the Museum of Art and Archaeology’s Before Columbus: Iconography in the Ancient Americas exhibition)
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