On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Tripod vessel,
600–900
Ulúa ((Red group, Contador type, Mezillo variety)
Late Classic Period
y1982-25
The art of ancient Honduras and El Salvador has long been considered in terms of its possible relationships to the more famous cultures of Mesoamerica. By the Early Formative period (1000–500 BCE), there is evidence of interaction with the Olmec of Mexico’s gulf coast and the southernmost Maya kingdom, centered at Copán, in northwest Honduras. Indeed, the people of this region were never isolated from their neighbors. For example, local artists adopted the tall, cylindrical form for chocolate-drinking vessels from the Maya, but their shorter marble vessels, also used for chocolate drinking, have no correlates in Mesoamerica. As more archaeological excavations are conducted in this region, scholars are learning that ancient Honduras and El Salvador had stronger cultural connections with peoples to the south and in the Caribbean than with Mesoamericans.
Information
Title
Tripod vessel
Dates
600–900
Medium
Ceramic with polychrome slip-paint
Dimensions
h. 22.8, diam. 16.3 cm. (9 x 6 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Leonard H. Bernheim Jr., Class of 1959
Object Number
y1982-25
Place Made
North America, Honduras, Ulúa River Valley
Culture
Period
Type
Subject
[Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York, NY]. [Sotheby's, Important Pre-Columbian Art , December 5, 1981, Lot 259]. Gift of Leonard H. Bernheim Jr. (d. 2000) to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1982.
