ART 198 - HISTORY OF WORLD CERAMICS

This portrait of a seated female figure shows the elaborate hair style of a noble woman of the classic period (250-900 CE). She is 7.5" tall, and gestures with her right hand. Her hair is cut and braided into a a turban consisting of a complex tier of layers typical of that worn by elite ladies of the Classic period. Painted with stucco pigment which was not fired, and has mostly worn off, we can still see traces also in the wrapped tunic (huipil) she wears. She wears representations of jade ear plugs, necklace, and bracelets, and the textured area of her face, around the mouth, represents scarification or tatooing. Found as a burial object in a tomb.

Seated Maya Female Figure, terra cotta and stucco, from the Island of Jaina, Classic Maya Period, 672-830 CE