Maya Relief-Carved Pottery Cylinder Vessel depicting Hero Twin and Underworld Creatures
Maya carved cylinder vessel, alternate side showing vertical panel borders and portal doorway
Maya carved cylinder vessel, hero view of Hunahpu or Xbalanque with raised ceremonial staff
Maya carved cylinder vessel, detail of Xibalba portal with jaguar and monkey wayob
Maya carved cylinder vessel, opposite side showing predatory bird and anthropomorphic wayob
Maya carved cylinder vessel, upper rim detail with exterior-beveled edge
Maya carved cylinder vessel, top-down view of interior and burnished slip surface
Maya Relief-Carved Pottery Cylinder Vessel depicting Hero Twin and Underworld Creatures
Maya carved cylinder vessel, alternate side showing vertical panel borders and portal doorway
Maya carved cylinder vessel, hero view of Hunahpu or Xbalanque with raised ceremonial staff
Maya carved cylinder vessel, detail of Xibalba portal with jaguar and monkey wayob
Maya carved cylinder vessel, opposite side showing predatory bird and anthropomorphic wayob
Maya carved cylinder vessel, upper rim detail with exterior-beveled edge
Maya carved cylinder vessel, top-down view of interior and burnished slip surface
Maya Relief-Carved Pottery Cylinder Vessel depicting Hero Twin and Underworld Creatures
Maya Relief-Carved Pottery Cylinder Vessel depicting Hero Twin and Underworld Creatures Maya carved cylinder vessel, alternate side showing vertical panel borders and portal doorway Maya carved cylinder vessel, hero view of Hunahpu or Xbalanque with raised ceremonial staff Maya carved cylinder vessel, detail of Xibalba portal with jaguar and monkey wayob Maya carved cylinder vessel, opposite side showing predatory bird and anthropomorphic wayob Maya carved cylinder vessel, upper rim detail with exterior-beveled edge Maya carved cylinder vessel, top-down view of interior and burnished slip surface

Maya Relief-Carved Pottery Cylinder Vessel depicting Hero Twin and Underworld Creatures

17749

$2,750
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Late Classic Period Circa 600 to 900 AD

A deeply carved terracotta ritual vessel of cylindrical form with a gently flaring, exterior-beveled rim, finished in warm reddish-orange and burnished buff slip. The outer walls feature a dynamic mythological narrative framed by vertical panel borders and a prominent vertical doorway line representing a liminal portal to Xibalba (the Maya Underworld).

On one side of the portal stands a human lord, likely one of the Hero Twins from the Popol Vuh (Hunahpu or Xbalanque), depicted with a raised and ready club or ceremonial staff guarding or denying passage through the portal. Emerging through the doorway—shown half-in and half-out of the threshold—are various mythological and underworld creatures (wayob), including a monkey, a predatory bird, a jaguar, and an anthropomorphic creature with an animal head.

Dimensions: 4 3/8 in (11.1 cm) Height x 4 in (10.2 cm) Diameter.

Provenance: Collection of Walker Murray Randle, Granbury, Texas.

Every object is guaranteed authentic and as described, and has been legally acquired and imported in accordance with U.S. and applicable foreign regulations on the movement and sale of antiquities. A signed certificate of authenticity with a description and photograph accompanies this object. Any restoration is described on the invoice.

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