Cleveland Museum of Art

Seated Lord with Removable Headdress: Figure

Date

600–800

Medium

ceramic and slip

Culture

Mesoamerica, Maya, probably Jaina Island, Late Classical period, 7th-9th century

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The major Maya grave offerings on Jaina Island were ceramic figurines that depict deities and humans in a variety of roles. The seated figure represents a male, perhaps another warrior, who wears a huge zoomorphic headdress. A skeletal face with articulated jaw descends from the headdress to fit as a mask over the figure’s face. It is estimated that some 20,000 people were buried on the tiny island of Jaina over a 500-year period.

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