Images(3)

Human effigy incense burner top

A.D. 400–550

Object PlaceDepartment of Tiquisate, Guatemala

Medium/TechniqueEarthenware: traces of specular hematite (red), white and black slip paint

Dimensions43.2 x 24.7 cm (17 x 9 3/4 in.)

Credit LineGift of Landon T. Clay

Accession number1988.1227a

On View

On view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Americas

Description

Cacao was both currency, and a prestigious gift. Here, the goddess of cacao holds a ripe pod. Cacao flowers adorn her hair, and a feathered divining mirror hangs on her chest

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.