Embracing Couple

between 700 and 900

Maya, Precolumbian

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

Embracing Couple: 1 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

This figurine clearly symbolizes the Mayan belief in the essential balance of dual powers that allows the universe to function. Here an old man, symbolizing a god associated with the sun, daylight, and life, embraces a young woman, representing the moon goddess, night, and death. The piece also functions as a whistle, and it is thought that these whistles were played at funeral ceremonies, as such pieces were buried with the dead to aid in their transition to another level of existence.

Title Embracing Couple

Artwork Date between 700 and 900

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Precolumbian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Maya

Medium Terracotta and pigment

Dimensions Overall: 9 7/8 × 3 3/4 × 4 1/4 inches (25.1 × 9.5 × 10.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Katherine Margaret Kay Bequest Fund and New Endowment Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 77.49

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Edward H. Merrin. 1977-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 5 (1978): 260, fig. 2 (ill.).

“Family Art Game.” DIA Advertising Supplement, Detroit News, April 14, 1985, p. 11 (ill.).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 82-83 (ill.).

Johnson, W. W. "New light on the mysteries of the Maya." Smithsonian 17, no. 2 (May 1986): 42 (ill.).

“Family Art Game.” DIA Advertising Supplement, Detroit Free Press, May 18, 1986, p. 16 (ill.).

Stuart, Gene S. America's Ancient Cities. Washington, DC, 1988, p. 138 (color ill.).

Taube, K. "A ritual clown of the Early Classic Maya court." Bulletin of the DIA 66, no. 4 (1991): 18-29, fig. 3 (ill.).

Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, pp. 56-57 (ill. detail); pp. 76-77 (fig. 51).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Maya, Precolumbian, Embracing Couple, between 700 and 900, terracotta and pigment. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Katherine Margaret Kay Bequest Fund and New Endowment Fund, 77.49.