A foreboding supernatural bird perched on one chamber of this double vessel faces a kneeling young man on the other, while a third creature climbs up its side. The submissive position of the young man suggests he is luring the creature into a trap to overthrow the bird. Despite his impending defeat, this majestic deity was revered as an avian manifestation of Itzamnaaj. A whistle inside the head of the bird sounds when water is poured in the vessel’s opposite chamber.
Vasija silbato Guatemala o México Siglo V Cerámica
En los recipientes de esta doble vasija se enfrentan un pájaro sobrenatural, de aspecto temible, y un joven arrodillado. La postura sumisa del muchacho sugiere que está disimulando su intención de atraerlo y derribarlo. Pese a ser derrotada, el ave es una majestuosa deidad considerada como una manifestación de Itzamnaaj. El silbato ubicado en su cabeza suena cuando el receptáculo contrario se llena de agua.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Whistling vessel
Artist:Maya artist(s)
Date:400–500 CE
Geography:Guatemala or Mexico, Mesoamerica
Culture:Maya
Medium:Ceramic
Dimensions:H. 11 7/8 x W. 7 3/4 x D. 5 1/4 in. (30.2 x 19.7 x 13.3 cm)
Classification:Ceramics-Containers
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1963
Accession Number:1978.412.90a, b
[Aaron Furman Gallery, New York, until 1962]; Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1962, on loan to The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1962–63; The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1963–78
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art," November 14, 2022–April 2, 2023.
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Taube, Karl A. A Representation of the Principal Bird Deity in the Paris Codex. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, no. 6. Washington, DC: Center for Maya Research, 1987.
Kerr, Justin. "The hero twins: myth and image." In The Maya Vase Book: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases, edited by Justin Kerr. Vol. 1. New York: Kerr Associates, 1989, pp. 161–184, p. 171.
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Martin, Simon. "The Old Man of the Maya Universe: A Unitary Dimension to Ancient Maya Religion." In Maya Archaeology 3, edited by Charles W. Golden, Stephen D. Houston, and Joel Skidmore. San Francisco: Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, 2015, pp. 186–227.
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo, James Doyle, and Joanne Pillsbury, eds. Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022, p.59, figs. 37A, 37B.
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