Carved Bowl with Monkey Effigy Handles600–900 CE

Not on view

No image

Title: Carved Bowl with Monkey Effigy Handles
Culture: Maya
Place Made
Date Made: 600–900 CE
Medium: Stone, alabaster (?)
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 1/5 in. (13.208 cm); 5 4/5 x 6 4/5 x 5 3/10 in. (14.732 x 17.272 x 13.462 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2010.115.258
Classification: Stone
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: The Indigenous peoples of the Ulúa Valley, a unique cultural region on the eastern outskirts of the Maya world in what is now northwestern Honduras, developed a sophisticated tradition of sculpting bowls and drinking cups from solid blocks of creamy white marble. The great skill required to shape this stone, procured from a local quarry in the region, conferred prestige upon the vessels. Those with known archaeological context were recovered from royal tombs and palaces, confirming their status as luxury goods for elite members of society. Curling scrolls, serpentine figures, and geometric bands characterize the style of the white marble vessels of the Ulúa Valley. The side of this drinking cup with three rounded supports boasts a swirling array of scrolls that appear to form the profile of a face in low relief. Monkey heads emerge on either side of the vessel as handles.

Alyce de Carteret

2025
Selected Bibliography: 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.

Carved Bowl with Monkey Effigy Handles600–900 CE

Not on view

No image

Title: Carved Bowl with Monkey Effigy Handles
Culture: Maya
Place Made
Date Made: 600–900 CE
Medium: Stone, alabaster (?)
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 1/5 in. (13.208 cm); 5 4/5 x 6 4/5 x 5 3/10 in. (14.732 x 17.272 x 13.462 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2010.115.258
Classification: Stone
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: The Indigenous peoples of the Ulúa Valley, a unique cultural region on the eastern outskirts of the Maya world in what is now northwestern Honduras, developed a sophisticated tradition of sculpting bowls and drinking cups from solid blocks of creamy white marble. The great skill required to shape this stone, procured from a local quarry in the region, conferred prestige upon the vessels. Those with known archaeological context were recovered from royal tombs and palaces, confirming their status as luxury goods for elite members of society. Curling scrolls, serpentine figures, and geometric bands characterize the style of the white marble vessels of the Ulúa Valley. The side of this drinking cup with three rounded supports boasts a swirling array of scrolls that appear to form the profile of a face in low relief. Monkey heads emerge on either side of the vessel as handles.

Alyce de Carteret

2025
Selected Bibliography: 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.