Images(3)

Tripod plate with rattle feet

A.D. 600–750

Place of OriginDepartment of El Petén, Guatemala

Medium/TechniqueEarthenware with red, orange, and black on cream slip decoration

DimensionsOverall: Diam: 39.5 cm (15 9/16 in.)

Credit LineGift of Lavinia and Landon T. Clay

Accession number2004.241

On View

On view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Americas

Description

Torture and sacrifice were crucial rituals that sought to ensure the balance of the universe. Here, a sacrificial decapitation reenacts that of the Maize god by the lords of the Underworld, leading to his resurrection.

ProvenancePeter G. Wray Collection, Scottsdale, Arizona, collected sometime between 1977 and 1981 (according to David Joraleman, former curator of that collection); sold Sotheby's, New York, November 26, 1985, lot 93; to private collection; sold Sotheby's, New York, Sale N07996, lot 193, May 14, 2004; to MFA, June 2004, purchase.