Pre-Columbian, Honduras, Mayan Ulua Valley, ca. 550 to 850 CE. A well-preserved ceramic bowl decorated in the distinctive style of the Ulua Valley, an interesting satellite of the Classical Mayan world. On the lower section of the exterior walls are two seated lords or scribes, donning elaborate headdresses, and extending their hands in a gesture as if speaking or making an offering, with three concentric circles before their mouths - all in red against an orange ground. The upper concave section features a narrower register of abstract glyphoids and applied perforated lugs on opposite sides. The interior of the bowl is decorated with deep red bands bordering curvilinear motifs in red and orange. A lovely example from the ancients of the Ulua Valley. Size: 8.25" W at widest x 4.5" H (21 cm x 11.4 cm)
The Ulua Valley, centered around the large city of Cerro Palenque, is a mystery for archaeologists. Unlike the Maya, the ancients of this region left no written records (the glyphoids on this vessel do not form words), and their connection to the Classic Maya is unclear. It seems to have been a point of trade and transport - a connecting link - between the Maya world further north and Central America. The pottery from the Ulua Valley is part of a very unique tradition that departed from those found at nearby Copan.
Provenance: private Southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s
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#140805
Condition
Chips to rim. 2" hairline fissure runs from rim down side wall. Expected surface wear with pigment loss as shown. Scattered mineral deposits.