Metate with Bird Head300–700 CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Metate with Bird Head
Culture: Greater Nicoya
Place Made: Costa Rica, Nicoya Peninsula
Date Made: 300–700 CE
Medium: Basalt
Dimensions: 11 × 21 × 8 in. (27.94 × 53.34 × 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Art Museum Council in honor of the museum's twenty-fifth anniversary
Accession Number: M.90.168.43
Classification: Stone
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Metates, or grinding stones, were an important tool of everyday life in Mesoamerican society. Primarily associated with maize, metates were also used to grind other foods or materials, such as pigments like cochineal and indigo. Given their importance in transforming hard maize kernels into flour for staples like tortillas and tamales, thereby sustaining the life of the community, metates took on symbolic connotations. The prevalence of highly decorated examples, such as this one, is a testament to that. Here, the embellished legs, ornamental bird head, and decorative border on the grinding surface signal a ceremonial rather than practical function. Scholars have suggested that these items may also have served as ritual tables or stools, that is, thrones for elite persons to sit on during ceremonies.

Julia Burtenshaw

2024

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Metate with Bird Head
Culture: Greater Nicoya
Place Made: Costa Rica, Nicoya Peninsula
Date Made: 300–700 CE
Medium: Basalt
Dimensions: 11 × 21 × 8 in. (27.94 × 53.34 × 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Art Museum Council in honor of the museum's twenty-fifth anniversary
Accession Number: M.90.168.43
Classification: Stone
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Metates, or grinding stones, were an important tool of everyday life in Mesoamerican society. Primarily associated with maize, metates were also used to grind other foods or materials, such as pigments like cochineal and indigo. Given their importance in transforming hard maize kernels into flour for staples like tortillas and tamales, thereby sustaining the life of the community, metates took on symbolic connotations. The prevalence of highly decorated examples, such as this one, is a testament to that. Here, the embellished legs, ornamental bird head, and decorative border on the grinding surface signal a ceremonial rather than practical function. Scholars have suggested that these items may also have served as ritual tables or stools, that is, thrones for elite persons to sit on during ceremonies.

Julia Burtenshaw

2024