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Collections

Drinking Cup for Cacao of Naatz Chan Ahkearly 5th century

Not on view
Ceramic lidded vessel with terracotta-orange slip, cylindrical body on three slab feet, conical lid with cream glyph panels, topped by a sculpted gray-clay human head with open mouth and headdress
Ceramic lidded tripod vessel with terracotta-red body, decorated with white cartouches containing Maya glyphs outlined in black. Conical lid surmounted by a modeled human face with headdress in dark gray clay. Three short feet at base.
Ceramic lidded vessel on three rectangular feet, painted in terracotta red with incised Maya glyphs in pale green cartouches; conical lid topped with a small dark fired-clay figural finial.
Ceramic lidded vessel on three rectangular feet, painted in terracotta red with cream cartouches containing Maya glyphs outlined in black; conical lid topped with a dark modeled ceramic finial figure.
Ceramic lidded tripod vessel with terracotta-red slip, decorated with painted Maya glyphs in white cartouches outlined in black; conical lid surmounted by a dark molded figural handle depicting a crouching supernatural figure.
Title
Drinking Cup for Cacao of Naatz Chan Ahk
Culture
Maya
Place Made
Date Made
early 5th century
Period
Early Classic
Medium
Slip-painted earthenware with stucco and postfire pigment
Dimensions
Overall (Diameter): 11 1/2 × 5 1/4 in. (29.21 × 13.34 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number
M.2010.115.22a-b
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Ancient Americas
Selected Bibliography
  • Houston, Stephen D., David Stuart, and Karl A. Taube. The Memory of Bones: Body, Being, and Experience Among the Classic Maya. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006.
  • Martin, Simon, and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. 2nd ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008.
  • Lopes, Luis. "A Probable Reference to Na-"Gourd" Chan Ahk on Naranjo Stela 15." Mesoweb Publications (2005). www.mesoweb.com/articles/lopes/ProbableReference.pdf
  • Beliaev, Dmitri, Albert Davletshin, and Alexandre Tokovinine. "Sweet Cacao and Sour Atole: Mixed Drinks on Classic Maya Ceramic Vases." in Pre-Columbian Foodways Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica, eds. John E. Staller and Michael D. Carrasco, 257-272. New York: Springer, 2010.
  • Mora-Marin, David F. "The Origin of Mayan Syllabograms and Orthographic Conventions." Written Language & Literacy 6, no.2 (2003): 193-238.
  • Tokovinine, Alexandre, and Vilma Fialko. "Stela 45 of Naranjo and the Early Classic Lords of Sa'aal." PARI Journal 7, no. 4 (2007): 1-14.
  • Law, Daniel A. "A Grammatical Description of the Early Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions." Master's Thesis, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Brigham Young University, 2006.
  • 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).
  • 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
  • The Painted City: Art from Teotihuacan. Saturday, March 29 - Sunday, December 7, 2014

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