Images(3)

Cylinder vase

A.D. 680–750

Place of Manufacturenorthern Petén lowlands, Guatemala

Medium/TechniqueEarthenware: brown-black and red on cream slip paint

Dimensions12.8 x 11.1 cm (5 1/16 x 4 3/8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Landon T. Clay

Accession number1988.1172

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Americas

Description

The same fluid line defines the peccary (wild pig) and turkey and the short hieroglyphic text. Yet, the text is painted backwards and in mirror image, suggesting an otherworldly quality and emphasizing the artist's expertise.

ProvenanceBetween about 1974 and 1981, probably purchased in Guatemala by John B. Fulling (b. 1924 – d. 2005), The Art Collectors of November, Inc., Pompano Beach, FL; May 20, 1987, sold by John B. Fulling to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1988, year-end gift of Landon Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 1989)

NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.