Northwest Honduras, Ulúa Valley, 8th-10th century / 700–1000
Carved Stone Vessel
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Carved Stone Vessel as sculpture (Northwest Honduras, Ulúa Valley, 8th-10th century · 700–1000).
Carved in the round, the vessel's handles suggest a feline that emerges from a serpent-like head with an upturned snout.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as marble.
The museum's collection notes: 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.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtCarved Stone VesselOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.