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Maya Jade Pectoral Depicting Two Enthroned Lords

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD
Maya Jade Pectoral Depicting Two Enthroned Lords
<B>Pectoral Depicting Two Enthroned Deities</B></I><BR>Maya<BR>A.D. 700 - 800<BR>Jadeite<BR>Height 4 1/4 in. Width 3 7/8 in.<BR><BR>Commentary on a Late Classic Maya Jade Plaque by Stanley Paul Guenter<BR><BR>This carved jade has previously been commented upon by Robert Sonin and Dieter Dütting. Stylistically, both in regards to the figural scene on the front and the inscription on the reverse, the carving dates to the latter part of the Late Classic period, almost certainly to the eighth century A.D. The carving on the face of the object depicts two Maya individuals in profile, facing each other. Each figure is seated upon a throne. The left hand figure sits on a throne upon which are carved two human faces shown frontally. From each of the heads hang four long rectangular shapes, possibly portraying the celts that often hung from belt heads in typical Maya royal costume. The right hand figure sits atop a <I>witz</B></I> monster, emblem of stone and mountains. The <I>witz</B></I> monster faces to the left, and is distinguished by a lack of a lower jaw, very large eye, and a broad upper part of the head marked by a number of engraved circles. Between the two throne supports kneels a hunchbacked dwarf, the common companion of the Maize god or of Maya kings impersonating this deity.<BR>The figure to the left is actually the Maize God himself, identified by the corn foliage that sprouts from his head and droops both behind his head and in front of his face. The figure holds his left hand elegantly over his chest, while his right hand rests comfortably on his thigh. This gesture has been identified as one expressed by the focal person in scenes on Maya pottery vessels (Patricia Ancona-Ha, Jorge Pérez de Lara, and Mark Van Stone, "Some Observations on Hand Gestures in Maya Art" in <I>The Maya Vase Book Volume 6,</B></I> pp. 1072-1089, edited by Barbara and Justin Kerr. New York: Kerr Associates, 2000). This Maize Go