On view
Lidded effigy container in the form of a diving god,
ca. 1500
More Context
This ceramic figure offers a rare glimpse of the vibrant character of Pre-Columbian polychrome, which usually has faded or eroded from such artifacts. The application of the paint, with solid zones of even, bright color and thick defining outlines, is typical of the Mixteca-Puebla style, which spread throughout Mesoamerica in the Postclassic period and became an important "international style." The subject matter of this piece is also an international hybrid. The face of the vessel consists of a fully modeled male figure rendered "diving," with feet up and head down. The angled lines on the face identify him as a late variant of the Maya maize god known as Bolon Mayel, who here melds with the Central Mexican maize god, Centeotl, and the god of flowers and plants, Xochipilli. This small ceramic sculpture likely served as a container for ritual offerings of an unknown type.
Information
ca. 1500
North America, Northern Belize or Quintana Roo, Mexico, Maya area
Possibly José Palomeque, Mérida, Mexico; possibly sold to Raúl Kamffer (1929-1987), Mexico City; possibly sold to Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York [1]; February 17, 1982, sold to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to conversation/correspondence (2011) between Alphonse Jax, Stacy Goodman, and Bryan R. Just, it is said that “Palomeque of Mérida” had seven of these objects, all from near Chetumal. Six were sold to Alphonse Jax while the last one, judged the best of the group, was kept. The seventh object was later sold on to dealers Kamffer and Merrin before being sold to Princeton.
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1982", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 42, no. 1 (1983): p. 50-70., p. 52
- Gerald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala-Honduras (Boulogne: Editions Arts, 1985)., cat. no. 31 (illus.)
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Gérald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Art précolombien Mexique, Guatemala (Paris: Editions Arts 135, 1985).
- Arne Eggebrecht, Glanz und Untergang des Alten Mexiko: Die Azteken und ihre Vorläufer (Mainz: Verlag Phillip von Zabern, 1986).
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 29 (illus.)
- Harmer Johnson, ed. Guide to the Arts of the Americas (New York: Rizzoli, 1992), p. 207 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 65 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 65
