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Painted Vase with Ruler and Scribe
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Among Maya noble families, finely painted ceramic vessels were used as fancy tableware, treasured gifts that secured the support of allies, and funerary offerings placed in tombs. Accordingly, the vessels’ imagery varies from religious themes to scenes of courtly life. Here, two attendants kneel before an enthroned nobleman who wears an enormous bird-head headdress.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePainted Vase with Ruler and Scribe, 600–900. Guatemala, Northern Peten or Mexico, Southern Campeche, Maya, late Classic. Pottery with burnished, colored slips; overall: 24.5 x 10.5 cm (9 5/8 x 4 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener, 1990.181
