Large Maya Polychrome Cylinder Vessel Late Classic, ca. A.D. 550-950

graphically painted with two ahawob or lords in a presentation scene, with an offering of tribute of large wrapped bundles, perhaps textiles, with a plume-handled perforator atop, one lord seated on a jaguar-skin covered bench and gesturing to the kneeing dignitary before him, each wearing tall headdress with a stiff woven structure rising upward, full loincloths of white cotton, and with a massive headdresses with a central face mask behind the seated lord and attendant, a column of secondary glyphs and a variant of the Primary Standard sequence at the rim.

Laurence C. Witten II Collection
Andre Emmerich Inc., on consignment from the above in 1972
Sotheby's, New York, November 15, 1994, lot 158
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Overall excellent; vessel appears intact; there is a old crack through the vertical glyph band shown in photo and a similar crack by the kneeling figure in front.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This vivid palace scene is part of a small corpus of vessels that are distinctive for the bright yellow-orange ground, and use of white and gray slip. It is believed that gray is a fugitive color originally applied as green to show brilliant quetzal feathers; see Reents-Budet (1994: pl. 6.23, cat. no. 72), for a highly similar vase,  also shown in mayavase.com K5456; also see Miller and Martin (2004: pl. 105) for a related vessel style.