Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Whistle with an old man emerging from a flower
Not on view
In Maya thought, the bones of the dead are comparable to plant seeds that carry progeny and fertilize the earth. The old man here is an ancestor, growing like flowers in the afterlife. These objects functioned as whistles: blowing into the stem would create sounds that animated the rituals in which they were used.
Silbato con anciano emergiendo de una flor
México
Siglo VII al IX
Cerámica, pigmento
Para los mayas, los huesos de los difuntos eran comparables a las semillas de las plantas, capaces de reproducirse y fertilizar la tierra. Este anciano representa un ancestro, que crecen como flores en el más allá. Estas piezas funcionaban como silbatos; al soplar el tallo se producían sonidos que animaban los rituales en los que se utilizaban.
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