This Maya painted vessel comes from the Late Classic Period (ca. 600–900 CE). Although the Maya had a robust painting practice that included textiles and codices, the durable nature and numerous examples of ceramics have provided scholars with the most insight into the Maya painting tradition. Maya artisans often approached painting cylindrical vessels in two ways. The most common was to pictorially divide the vessel in half, with each side containing the same imagery and hieroglyphic phrase. In other instances, painted vessels have a continuous narrative wrapping around the body, requiring the viewer to engage with the object on a more intimate level. The painting on this vessel falls into the first category, as the imagery repeats around the object.
Maya ceramics are also well known for their use of glyphs typically located along the mouth of the vessel. Oftentimes, glyphs followed what scholars call The Primary Standard Sequence (PSS), which begins with the vessel’s dedication of either the deity it is honoring or the person for which it was made. This is then followed by a reference to the shape or type of vessel and its contents. Cylinder vessels like this were called uch’ab, the word in most Mayan languages used for “drinking vessel,” and would hold beverages, such as those made from cacao (chocolate) or sa’ (atole), a corn-based drink.
The glyphs on this vessel, however, are “pseudo-glyphs” or a type of writing that attempts to mimic known words but are not truly representative of the Mayan language. Objects with pseudo-glyphs are indicative of non-elite painters and patrons who were considered illiterate but were inspired by the intricately designed objects of the Maya nobility. This decorative band of pseudo-glyphs may be a play on parts of the word uch’ab, the word naab (water, sea, or waterlily), or a different phrase common to the region. The repeated k’an cross motif around the body of the vessel bears similarities to objects that have Teotihuacan-related imagery.
