On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Dignitary,
600–800
Maya
Late Classic Period
2000-318
This figure’s demeanor, feathered cape, turban, and slight paunch attest to his noble status. Although such figurines once were thought to be portraits, more recent scholarship has suggested that they instead present stock social types and courtly positions. Punctures in the clay represent a delicate design on the loincloth, which may have been sheer gauze. The open mouth, large chest, and expansive gesture might indicate that the man was a court singer (k'ayom), a title that is written in hieroglyphs on Maya vase paintings that depict attendants to royalty.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Dignitary
Dates
600–800
Medium
Ceramic with yellow and Maya blue pigment
Dimensions
h. 26.7 cm., w. 15.5 cm., d. 7.5 cm. (10 1/2 x 6 1/8 x 2 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Gillett G. Griffin in honor of Allen Rosenbaum; with additional support from Lewis Ranieri in honor of Gillett G. Griffin on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, by exchange; Harry A. Brooks, Class of 1935, in honor of Allen Rosenbaum; and Samuel Merrin and Spencer Throckmorton
Object Number
2000-318
Place Made
North America, Mexico, Campeche, Maya area, Jaina Island or vicinity
Culture
Period
[The Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, CA]. Mr. and Mrs.(Betty) Ellsworth La Boyteaux, Orina, CA, in 1968. Gift of Gillett G. Griffin in honor of Allen Rosenbaum; with additional support from Lewis Ranieri in honor of Gillett G. Griffin on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, by exchange; Harry A. Brooks, Class of 1935, in honor of Allen Rosenbaum; and Samuel Merrin and Spencer Throckmorton, to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2000.
- Hasso Von Winning and Alfred Stendahl, Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America, (New York: Abrams, 1968), fig. 226
- Thomas Dickey, Vance Muse, and Henry Wiencek, The God-Kings of Mexico (Chicago: Stongehenge Press, 1982)., p. 40 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 2000," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 60 (2001): p. 66-93., p. 79
- Mary E. Miller and Simon Martin, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco, 2004)., pl. 95, p. 177 (illus., image reversed)
- Allen Rosenbaum, "'Gillett and Me': How a Eurocentric Museum Director Learned to Love Pre-Columbian Art," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 64 (2005): 8-19., p. 13, fig. 7
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 135 (illus.)
- Richard Schlagman and Phaidon Press, The Art Museum (London; New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2011)., fig. 6, p. 105 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 135
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The Bay Area Collects: Art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (July 3 - October 3, 1982)
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Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (April 4, 2004–January 2, 2005)
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Unexpected Journey: Gillett G. Griffin and the Art of the Ancient Americas at Princeton (May 7–June 26, 2005)
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An Educated Eye: The Princeton University Art Museum Collection (Friday, February 22, 2008 - Sunday, June 15, 2008)
