Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs

between 300 and 600

Maya, Precolumbian

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs: 1 of Collection Gallery

Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs: 2 of Collection Gallery

Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs: 3 of Collection Gallery

Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs: 4 of Collection Gallery

Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs: 5 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

Mortuary offerings were placed in the tombs of Mayan noblemen to assist the deceased in their passage to the watery underworld. Funerary objects such as this were often decorated with symbols of water, marine vegetation, and animals. The painted body and lid of this vessel depict white water lilies floating against a green blue background; the water lily was seen as a plant that connects the underworld of water to the air of our world above. The petals of the lilies enclose red hieroglyphic signs, which allude to illustrious rulers and their titles. The carved areas, colored red, feature a complex array of interlocking scrolls that also symbolize water.

Title Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs

Artwork Date between 300 and 600

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 Earthenware with stucco and polychrome pigments

Dimensions Overall: 10 1/2 × 8 inches (26.7 × 20.3 cm)

Classification Ceramics

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Arthur H. Nixon 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. 1984.12

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

El Peten, Guatemala

Peter G. Wray, Phoenix, Arizona

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

Masterpieces of Pre-Columbian Art From The Collection Of Mr. & Mrs. Peter G. Wray. Exh. cat., Andre Emmerich Gallery. New York, 1984, no. 26 (ill.).

Graham, I. "Looters Rob Graves and History.” National Geographic 169, no 4 (April 1986): 453-460.

Miro, M. "Art World debates renewed issue of looting." Detroit Free Press, April 8, 1986, p. 2B (ill.).

You, Yao-Fen. “From Novelty to Necessity: The Europeanization of Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate.” In Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate: Consuming the World, ed. Yao-Fen You, Mimi Hellman, and Hope Saska. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 2016, p. 14; 16 (ill.); 131, cat. 4.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Maya, Precolumbian, Tripod Vessel with Slab-legs, between 300 and 600, earthenware with stucco and polychrome pigments. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Arthur H. Nixon Fund, 1984.12.