People of the Jaguar

The images on this vessel have been sculpted into the clay and painted with red and black pigments. The floral shapes may symbolize the hole in the sky from which divine energy flows into the material world. Surrounded by scrolls that suggest the watery depths of the Underworld, the crouched figure may represent a God of Death. The design on his cape is reminiscent of the back of the turtle from whose body the Maize God was born.

Painted terracotta
Unknown provenance
Late Classic period, A.D. 600-900
Canadian Museum of Civilization, XXI-A-83, K95-441