Vessel with Scribes holding Shell Paint Palettes

A.D. 600–900

On view, 1st floor, Art of the Ancient Americas

Using clay slip and natural pigments, Maya artists painted thousands of vases. Subjects ranged from daily life to detailed epic and supernatural narratives. Some were inscribed with text, drawn by the artist's hand. Palettes ranged from monochromatic—known as "codex style" from the calligraphic quality of the line—to vibrant hues of orange, yellow, blue, and green. Many artists and scribes were elite members of Maya society. Here two scribes are recognizable by the paint pots they hold and the dotted strips of paper emanating from under their arms.

Medium: Ceramic with pigment
Dimensions: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
Credit Line: Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903, Fund
Accession Number: 1973.88.1
Geography: Campeche, Mexico
Culture: Mexico, Campeche, Maya
Period: Late Classic Period
Classification: Containers
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Fred H. Olsen (1891–1986), and Florence Quittenton Olsen, Guilford, Conn.; gift in 1973 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Bibliography

Elise K. Kenney, ed., Handbook of the Collections: Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 319, ill

George A. Kubler, ed., Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1986), 146–47, 308, no. 316, fig. 163

"Acquisitions, 1973," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 35, no. 1 (Summer 1974), 76

Object copyright

No Copyright - United States

Additional information

Object/Work type

human figures (visual works), utilitarian objects, vessels

Technical metadata and APIs

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