Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Lidded vessel with howler monkey

Maya

Not on view

Artists created elaborate feasting vessels with animal-headed knobs, flattening the creatures’ bodies into painted or incised decoration on the lids. Noisy inhabitants of lowland Maya forests, howler monkeys were revered creatures associated with both the day and the night.

Vasija con tapa con mono aullador
Estructura F8-1, El Zotz, Guatemala
Siglo IV
Cerámica
Los artistas crearon vasijas festivas muy elaboradas, con agarraderas en forma de cabezas de animales cuyos cuerpos pintaban o esgrafiaban sobre las tapas. Entre otros, figuran los pecarís, o cerdos salvajes, y los monos aulladores. Estos bulliciosos habitantes de la selva de las Tierras Bajas mayas eran criaturas veneradas y asociadas tanto al día como a la noche.

Lidded vessel with howler monkey, Ceramic, Maya

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

© Authorized reproduction Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala; Museo de Arqueología y Etnología, photo by Jorge Perez de Lara