LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2026
  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Building LACMA
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Vessel with Bat Heads650–850 CE

Not on view
Cylindrical ceramic bowl with cream, burnt-orange, and dark brown painted surface organized into a grid of rectangular panels, each filled with curvilinear Mesoamerican glyphs
Title
Vessel with Bat Heads
Culture
Maya
Place Made
Guatemala, Alta Verapaz, Cobán or vicinity
Date Made
650–850 CE
Medium
Slip-painted ceramic
Dimensions
6 × 7 × 7 in. (15.24 × 17.78 × 17.78 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Art Museum Council in honor of the museum's twenty-fifth anniversary
Accession Number
M.90.168.18
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes

Repeated motifs that are actually stylized profile leaf-nose bat heads make up the striking design on this vessel’s surface. Bats are important characters in Maya lore, often associated with the underworld.

2008

Selected Bibliography
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art Members' Calendar 1991. vol. 28-29, no. 12-1 (December, 1990-January, 1992).
  • Reents-Budet, Dorie. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994.
  • 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.