Henry L. Batterman Fund

Large free-standing figure of a man on a thin rectangular base. Half circle headdress with incised decoration; conical hat fitting down into a broad headband. Face carefully modeled with decoration running from each eye across cheek. Ear plugs have strap-like pendants that hang down over shoulders. Recessed eyes and deep depressions of the ear spools probably held inlays. Below neck is breast ornament. Broad skirt hangs down to knees with incised textile designs. Densely patterned designs covering the upper arms, hands, abdomen and legs include ears of corn and feline heads and most likely represent tattooing. Elbows bent. Right hand on breast with fingers curling around empty socket, in which a banner or staff may have been inserted. The left hand rests against belt. Depression at the navel was probably used for ritual offerings. Other side of piece is a standing skeletal figure wearing a conical hat adorned with feathers. Arms are full flesh. Incised tattoo designs are on arms and legs. The feet end in claws. Belt and skirt have incised decoration. Figure is in good condition with overall signs of surface wear. Label copy: This sculpture exemplifies the dualism permeating Huastec and Aztec art. On one side, a life-size male figure wears a conical hat, large ear spools, and a skirt tied around his waist. Densely patterned designs, including ears of corn and feline heads cover the upper arms, hands, abdomen and legs - most likely representations of tattooing. The recessed eyes and deep depressions of the ear spools probably held inlays. The deep depression in the navel, the symbolic heart of the figure, was probably used for ritual offerings. The fingers of the raised right hand curl around an opening in which a staff or banner would have been inserted. The other side of the sculpture is dominated by a dramatic skeletal figure wearing a conical hat adorned with feathers and having feet that end in claws. The piece has been interpreted either as a cult statue to the god Quetzalcoatl or as a representation of a Huastec ruler.

Painting, particularly on ceramic vessels, was the primary art form among the Maya. This plate is representative of the “turkey vulture” pottery tradition, a regional style that was created for a broad audience and used almost exclusively in burials. The vessel’s interior is decorated with the Muan bird, the messenger of the lords of the underworld. The “kimi” glyph, or death sign, emanates from the bird’s head just above the beak. On the interior rim, two centipedes swim in the underworld’s black waters.

Large, black globular jar with a rounded base and a body that gradually tapers into a narrower mouth opening. The exterior of the vessel is decorated with incised designs of two supernatural deities, referred to as the Oculate Being, with large eyes and sausage-shaped mouths. Each figure holds a trophy head in one hand. A long tongue-like streamer emanates from each figure's mouth, and streamers emanate from their heads and bodies. Surrounding the figures are geometrical incised designs. Outlined designs are filled with resin paint in green, red, and yellow. The lower quarter of the vessel is undecorated.

Museum Expedition 1933, Purchased with funds given by Jesse Metcalf

Museum Expedition 1933, Purchased with funds given by Jesse Metcalf

Carved grey stone pipe bowl representing a youthful male in an attitude of submission. Crouching with arms pulled back along his sides, his head is strained forward, and his mouth is open with teeth exposed. His hairdo is elaborate with two beads hanging down over his forehead. He is wearing multiple beaded armbands, wristbands, and legbands. The bowl of the pipe is carved into his back.

The vessel is constructed from a single piece of wood. On the front, a face is carved; on the back, the hair provides a panel for a figural scene in which an Inca ruler, sitting on a low stool and holding a shield, is presented with a prisoner of war whose face is painted with three horizontal bands of color like the face on the kero cup itself. The scene also includes a figure holding a parasol over another figure and a seated feline. The forehead forms the rim of the cup and the neck forms the foot of the vessel. Inca themes were used on kero cups throughout the Colonial era.

Kero cup with two registers of figural scenes separated by relief bands of flowers and geometric motifs. In the top register, two Incas battle three face-painted Antis or Chunchos. They wear spotted jaguar skin tunics and headdresses with two feathers in each. One of them has already fallen and lies under a tree, while the other two hold bows and arrows. A third Inca, wearing a checkerboard tunic, leads a fourth Anti, who wears a more elaborate feather headdress than the others and is presumably their leader, toward a castle and a seated Inca, possibly the Emperor himself. A hunchbacked figure holds a parasol over him. Above and to the right, a bird holds a sling and a bag in its beak. The lower register is an agricultural scene, possibly a ceremony, with two men guiding plows that are drawn by teams of two oxen. Each man is followed by a woman: one planting seeds and the other holding a pair of kero cups. During the Colonial era, Inca themes were generally portrayed on kero cups.

Gift of Mrs. Eugene Schaefer