Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Lidded Vessel
(Ancient Americas )
No ancient Mayan feast was complete without chocolate, offered to guests in pots like this one. Rather than formed into bars for eating, chocolate for the ancient Maya was a drink spiced with chili peppers and sweetened with honey. The theme of chocolate is reinforced in the vessel’s decoration, from the cacao beans (from which chocolate is made) sculpted on its body to the lid’s handle, which is shaped like a cacao tree. The Mayan Maize God, the most important deity for the Maya, is shown as his avatar the “Chocolate God,” on the incised panels. He is represented as a tree sprouting cacao pods.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, 1970s, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2009, by gift.
Exhibitions
| 2012-2013 | Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. |
| 1998-2008 | Art of Ancient America, 1500 B.C.-1400 A.D.. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe. |
Geographies
Guatemala (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 13 11/16 x Diam: 9 in. (34.77 x 22.86 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John Bourne, 2009
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
2009.20.39