Cleveland Museum of Art

Carved Stone Vessel

Date

700–1000

Medium

marble

Culture

Northwest Honduras, Ulúa Valley, 8th-10th century

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This stone vessel, made by eastern neighbors of the Maya, is one of the finest and largest of its kind. On the exterior are several motifs that combine to create an unusually complex design that features a grotesque head, either in profile or front-facing, with a leg near its mouth. In the main panel a frontal version of the head hovers over two legs, the knees pointed sharply outward. Beside each leg is a lively human, rarely seen in such works. Little is known about the motifs’ meanings or the vessel’s use. Carved in the round, the vessel's handles suggest a feline that emerges from a serpent-like head with an upturned snout.

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