Spondylus Shell with Lidded Jade Bowl600–900 CE

Not on view

Large bivalve shell coated in brick red with rough, spiny texture, open to reveal a small green patinated object with pierced holes resting inside

Open bivalve shell coated in red pigment with rough, spiny texture, containing a small green jade or stone figurine with perforations along its surface.

Spiny oyster shell with heavily textured, jagged red exterior and a glimpse of turquoise-green interior visible along the partially open hinge.

Title: Spondylus Shell with Lidded Jade Bowl
Culture: Maya
Place Made: Guatemala
Date Made: 600–900 CE
Medium: Spondylus shell, jade
Dimensions: 4 × 8 × 6 in. (10.16 × 20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2010.115.1065a-c
Classification: Organic Materials
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: This assemblage, a Spondylus (spiny oyster) shell covered in cinnabar powder with a lidded jade bowl nestled inside, corresponds with a common offering made at sites in the Classic Maya lowlands. Each component of this offering carries its own value. Spondylus, a genus of mollusks, inhabits the cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and Maya divers would go to great depths to retrieve the shells. Abrading away their spines and white exteriors would reveal a vibrant range of red and orange hues, which Maya artists then used to fashion jewelry, embellish clothing, and craft mosaics. Here, the shell has been left in its natural form, a thick coating of cinnabar giving it its red color. Cinnabar, an ore of mercury sulfide, occurs in regions with volcanic activity, including the highlands of Mesoamerica. Prized for its blood red color, its significance also stems from its telluric—that is, deep within the earth—origins. Cinnabar often appears in royal tombs as a means to prepare bodies and burial goods for becoming an ancestor. Finally, jade was perhaps the most precious material among Classic Maya peoples, embodying vital forces like breath, water, and maize. This offering thus invokes both the earth and the sea, life and death—complementary wholes.

Alyce de Carteret

2024
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.

Spondylus Shell with Lidded Jade Bowl600–900 CE

Not on view

Title: Spondylus Shell with Lidded Jade Bowl
Culture: Maya
Place Made: Guatemala
Date Made: 600–900 CE
Medium: Spondylus shell, jade
Dimensions: 4 × 8 × 6 in. (10.16 × 20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2010.115.1065a-c
Classification: Organic Materials
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: This assemblage, a Spondylus (spiny oyster) shell covered in cinnabar powder with a lidded jade bowl nestled inside, corresponds with a common offering made at sites in the Classic Maya lowlands. Each component of this offering carries its own value. Spondylus, a genus of mollusks, inhabits the cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and Maya divers would go to great depths to retrieve the shells. Abrading away their spines and white exteriors would reveal a vibrant range of red and orange hues, which Maya artists then used to fashion jewelry, embellish clothing, and craft mosaics. Here, the shell has been left in its natural form, a thick coating of cinnabar giving it its red color. Cinnabar, an ore of mercury sulfide, occurs in regions with volcanic activity, including the highlands of Mesoamerica. Prized for its blood red color, its significance also stems from its telluric—that is, deep within the earth—origins. Cinnabar often appears in royal tombs as a means to prepare bodies and burial goods for becoming an ancestor. Finally, jade was perhaps the most precious material among Classic Maya peoples, embodying vital forces like breath, water, and maize. This offering thus invokes both the earth and the sea, life and death—complementary wholes.

Alyce de Carteret

2024
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.