Maya Lidded Blackware Tripod Vessel

New York Trade

Private Collection, California, acquired from the above in the 1980s

Sotheby’s, New York, May 17, 2000, lot 154, consigned by the above

Private Collection, New York, acquired at the above auction

Sotheby's, New York, May 23, 2023, lot 60, consigned by the above

Private Collection, Israel, acquired at the above auction

Thence by descent to the present owner

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 1993 - April 1995

The thin-walled blackware vessels of the Early Classic era include some of the most elegant ceramics, showing the distinctive influence of Teotihuacan, the most powerful entity of Mesoamerica in the Classic era. 

Supported on the openwork slab feet, the slightly curving walls are incised in plano-relief with a continuous band of the dramatic undulating serpent, och chan, with massive openwork jaw and bifurcated tongue issuing forth.

Och chan, commonly referred to as the bearded dragon, is a mythical composite of a bearded, sometimes antlered creature. His presence, often emitting deified ancestors from his gaping jaw, signifies extreme ceremonies and events. On this vessel, his lower jaw is trimmed by the beard and flaming crests run along the upper jaw and head. His scaly body terminates in cross-hatched rattles. The lid is incised with a continuous wavy band of watery elements with air bubbles shown on the curls, with the emerging head of a youthful deity as handle. He wears a specific headband (one tie now missing) tied around a tasseled headdress, earflares ornament his lobes. The recessed areas are highlighted by red pigment overall.

Cf. For another blackware incised tripod vessel that was likely part of the same workshop, see Sotheby’s, New York, May 17, 2000, lot 155, now in the collection of Museum der Universität Tübingen MUT, inv. No. MUT-Pz-8. Also see mayavase.com K1742 and K1834 for other versions of och chan.