On view
Eccentric flint with profiles of K'awiil, the lightning god,
600–800
More Context
Didactics
For over ten thousand years, flint was the principal material for the fabrication of utilitarian objects in Mesoamerica. Legends in later times connect the stone with lightning, and many masterpieces of the Maya flint-worker's art portray the lightning god K'awiil, identifiable by his humanoid facial profile with scrolls emanating from his forehead. Shaped flints of this kind are found almost exclusively in caches beneath floors and seldom, if ever, in burials. Black or brown flint was preferred, perhaps because the dark color emphasizes the profile of the subject. Fabrication of these works was a difficult process, involving careful application of pressure to the edges of the stone with a bone or antler punch. "Flaking" the flint necessitated careful planning and considerable time, as there was no going back once the profile had been defined. Such works are remarkably well detailed, from the definition of the eyes, nose, and lips to ornamental elements of the headdress.
Information
600–800
North America, Belize, Guatemala, or Mexico, Maya area
- Jill Guthrie, ed., In celebration: works of art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1997)., p. 151, cat. no. 147 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2003," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 63 (2004): p. 101-141., p. 106 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 135 (illus.)
