Images(5)

Tribute presentation scene

dated October 7, 691

Object PlaceLake Yaxhá-Tikal area, Department of El Petén, Guatemala

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

DimensionsOverall (H x D): 21.3 x 11.7 cm (8 3/8 x 4 5/8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Landon T. Clay

Accession number2004.2204

On View

On view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Americas

Description

K'ak' Hiix, an emissary of the Calakmul (Mexico) ruler Yich'aak K'ak', presents tribute-12,000 cacao beans and a stack of cloth and quetzal feathers-to his enemy Ch'ok Wayis (Hasaw Chan K'awiil), the ruler of Tikal. The text states that the event took place at the Lake Yaxhá island town Topoxté on 9.12.19.10.0 4-Ajaw 13-Keh (October 7, 691). The tribute may have resulted from a skirmish or may have been a diplomatic entreaty to avert hostility; Tikal won a major battle against Calakmul four years later.

ProvenanceBy 1972, sold by Lee Moore (dealer), Miami, to Landon T. Clay, Boston [see note]; 2004, year-end gift of Landon T. Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 23, 2005)

NOTE: According to the donor at the time of the gift. The vase was studied as part of the Maya Ceramics Project (Smithsonian Institution) in the 1970s.