This incised jadeite plaque bears the image of a seated deity wearing an elaborate feathered backrack. The backrack contains an early cosmogram: four rounded shapes, possibly earflares, mark the cardinal directions in a crosslike arrangement, while four intercardinal points mark the world’s four corners. Seated upon a stylized throne, the deity wears on his head an early version of what scholars call the “Quadripartite Badge,” a motif symbolically linked with the rising sun. The motif features three principal elements—a shell, a stingray spine, and a jewel—often nestled in a ceramic brazier or bowl used for ritual offerings, but in some instances it adorns deities, rulers, and other elite figures as a headdress assemblage. A perforation through the plaque indicates its use as a pendant. Ceremonial belts, worn by Classic Maya kings and dancers during public performances, included jade plaque pendants, which, with the movement of the body, would have rung out with a clamor.
Alyce de Carteret
2025