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© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
Incised Tripod Vase with Sculpted Heads
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
ClassificationsArt of the Americas

Incised Tripod Vase with Sculpted Heads

Place CreatedGuatemala, North America
CultureMaya-Teotihuacan Interaction
PeriodEarly Classic - Late Classic
Date450-550 CE
MediumCeramic
Credit LineGift of William C. and Carol W. Thibadeau
Dimensions7 x 6 5/16 in. (17.8 x 16 cm)
Object number1990.011.074
Label TextThis tripod vessel is superbly crafted, with thin walls, hollow modeled appliqué heads, and finely incised decoration. The heads have several holes in them that most likely would have held feathers, creating a colorful three-dimensional headdress in front of the intricate versions incised on the vessel. The result of cultural interaction in what is now lower Guatemala, this vessel form-a wide cylinder with three slab legs-is typical of Teotihuacan wares from Central Mexico, but the delicate decoration, curving lines, and iconography are Maya, from eastern Mesoamerica. Its unique combination of features is a testament to the extent of the trading routes and political reach of both cultures that met in the area near the site of Kaminaljuyú.
Exhibition HistoryPre-Columbian Art from the Collections of Paul A. Clifford and William C. Thibadeau, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, February 13 - April 4, 1971 (by repute)
Pre-Columbian Art in Southern Collections, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Alabama, September 9 - October 28, 1979
Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibideau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present
Published ReferencesPre-Columbian Art in Southern Collections: September 9 - October 28, 1979 (Huntsville: The Museum, 1979), 34, 45-46, number 46.
Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 21, figure 21.
ProvenanceEx coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased April 6, 1971.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Art of the Americas