Artwork Page for Incense Burner (lid)

Details / Information for Incense Burner (lid)

Incense Burner (lid)

600–1000

Guatemala, Quiché, San Juan Cotzal, Maya

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Medium
pottery
Measurements
Overall: 16.3 x 25.5 cm (6 7/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Harley Lee 1991.211.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

According to the Popol Vuh, a sixteenth-century Quiché Maya manuscript, the world has been created and destroyed twice, and we now live in the third creation. In the second creation, human beings were made from wood and reeds. They lacked souls and minds, and they did not revere their creator. Because of these imperfections, most were killed by an uprising of utensils and domestic animals. Monkeys are the descendents of the survivors.
A reddish-brown earthenware lid for an incense burner depicts a monkey crouching atop a dome-shaped base. The monkey, featuring large circular ear ornaments and a raised head crest, faces forward with hands resting on its knees. Etched lines texture its back and limbs. The dome beneath is pierced with several circular and oval cutouts and finished with a flat rim at the bottom.

Incense Burner (lid)

600–1000

Guatemala, Quiché, San Juan Cotzal, Maya

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