Birth of Huk Siip650–800 CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Maya cylindrical ceramic vessel with cream slip body painted in dark brown-black with two figural scenes and a band of glyphs near the rim, terracotta-red rim band and dark gray base

Maya ceramic cylinder vessel with cream slip and red rim band; painted in dark brown with a band of Maya glyphs above a scene depicting a figure intertwined with a large serpent, rendered in fine-line brushwork.

Cylindrical Maya ceramic vessel with cream slip and red rim band; painted in dark brown lines depicting a figure in elaborate regalia amid curvilinear forms, with a column of Maya glyphs at left.

Cylindrical Maya ceramic vessel with cream slip ground and dark brown painted figures; a standing costumed figure with elaborate headdress appears alongside Maya hieroglyphic glyphs; red-slipped rim at top.

Cylindrical Maya ceramic vessel with cream slip and red-painted rim band, decorated in dark brown painted figures including a seated figure emerging from or entwined with a large serpent, accompanied by a band of Maya hieroglyphic glyphs near the top.

Maya ceramic cylinder vessel with cream slip ground and red-painted rim band; painted in dark brown with a crouching figure amid elaborate scrolling forms and Maya glyphs at left.

Maya ceramic cylinder vessel with cream slip ground and red-painted rim, painted in dark brown with a standing figure wearing an elaborate headdress and jewelry, surrounded by Maya glyphic inscriptions in columns.

Title: Birth of Huk Siip
Culture: Maya
Place Made: Mexico, Southern Campeche, or Guatemala, Northern Petén
Date Made: 650–800 CE
Medium: Engobe-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 5/8 in. (14.29 cm) Height: 6 1/2 in. (16.51 cm)
Credit Line: Anonymous gift
Accession Number: M.2010.115.3
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Selected Bibliography: Reents-Budet, Dorie. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994.
Reents-Budet, Dorie, Sylvaine Boucher Le Landis, Yoly Palomo Carrillo, Ronald L. Bishop, and M. James Blackman. "Codex-style Ceramics: New Data Concerning Patterns of Production and Distribution," in XXIV Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala. Guatemala City: Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, 2010.
Herring, Adam. Art and Writing in the Maya Cities, A.D. 600-800: a Poetics of Line. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Schmidt, Peter, Mercedes de la Garza, and Enrique Nalda, eds. Maya. New York: Rizzoli International, 1998.
Keene, Bryan C., editor. Toward a Global Middle Ages: Encountering the World Through Illuminated Manuscripts. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019.
O'Neil, Megan E. Forces of Nature: Ancient Maya Arts from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Beijing Shi: Wen wu chu ban she, 2018.
Magaloni Kerpel, Diana, and Megan E. O'Neil, editors. The Science and Art of Maya Painted Ceramic Vessels: Contextualizing a Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022. https://www.archive.org/details/maya-painted-ceramic-vessels (accessed November 21, 2022).
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo, James A. Doyle, and Joanne Pillsbury, editors. Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.
Saunders, David, and Megan E. O'Neil, editors. Picture Worlds: Storytelling on Greek, Moche, and Maya Pottery. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2024.
Magaloni, Diana, Davide Domenici, and Alyce de Carteret. We Live in Painting: the Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2024.
Selected Exhibition History: The Ancient Maya World: Masterworks from the Permanent Collection. Saturday, December 1, 2012- Sunday, March 2, 2014

Related Exhibitions

Birth of Huk Siip650–800 CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Birth of Huk Siip
Culture: Maya
Place Made: Mexico, Southern Campeche, or Guatemala, Northern Petén
Date Made: 650–800 CE
Medium: Engobe-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 5/8 in. (14.29 cm) Height: 6 1/2 in. (16.51 cm)
Credit Line: Anonymous gift
Accession Number: M.2010.115.3
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Selected Bibliography: Reents-Budet, Dorie. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994.
Reents-Budet, Dorie, Sylvaine Boucher Le Landis, Yoly Palomo Carrillo, Ronald L. Bishop, and M. James Blackman. "Codex-style Ceramics: New Data Concerning Patterns of Production and Distribution," in XXIV Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala. Guatemala City: Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, 2010.
Herring, Adam. Art and Writing in the Maya Cities, A.D. 600-800: a Poetics of Line. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Schmidt, Peter, Mercedes de la Garza, and Enrique Nalda, eds. Maya. New York: Rizzoli International, 1998.
Keene, Bryan C., editor. Toward a Global Middle Ages: Encountering the World Through Illuminated Manuscripts. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019.
O'Neil, Megan E. Forces of Nature: Ancient Maya Arts from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Beijing Shi: Wen wu chu ban she, 2018.
Magaloni Kerpel, Diana, and Megan E. O'Neil, editors. The Science and Art of Maya Painted Ceramic Vessels: Contextualizing a Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022. https://www.archive.org/details/maya-painted-ceramic-vessels (accessed November 21, 2022).
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo, James A. Doyle, and Joanne Pillsbury, editors. Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.
Saunders, David, and Megan E. O'Neil, editors. Picture Worlds: Storytelling on Greek, Moche, and Maya Pottery. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2024.
Magaloni, Diana, Davide Domenici, and Alyce de Carteret. We Live in Painting: the Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2024.
Selected Exhibition History: The Ancient Maya World: Masterworks from the Permanent Collection. Saturday, December 1, 2012- Sunday, March 2, 2014