Currently not on view

Seated female

y1979-92

Sporting a hairdo common to Maya women—parted at the middle, with stepped bangs and a bun sitting high on the back of the head—this figure is adorned with earrings, a twisted-cord necklace, bracelets, and a simple, high-waisted skirt. Remaining paint suggests that that she also wore a sheer blue wrap. Her revealing costume, distinctly Maya beauty, and inviting gesture imbue the figurine with a strong sense of sexuality; she may be a noblewoman, a high-status courtesan, or the moon goddess, who epitomized female beauty and sensuality.

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Information

Object Number

y1979-92

Medium

Ceramic with traces of red and Maya blue pigment

Dates

A.D. 600–800

Dimensions

h. 22.5 cm., w. 10.5 cm., d. 12.8 cm. (8 7/8 x 4 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)

Culture

Maya

Credit Line

Gift of Gillett G. Griffin

Place Excavated

North America, Mexico, Campeche, Maya area, Jaina Island or vicinity

Type

figurines, ceramics, whistles

Subject

women, goddesses, figures (representations)

Materials

ceramic, pigment

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1733285

Mary Ellen Miller, Jaina Figurines: A Study of Maya Iconography (Princeton: The Princeton University Art Museum, 1975)., fig. 7, p. 27 (illus.)

2644 1975

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774628

"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1979," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 39, no. 1/2 (1980): p. 40-63., p. 40 (illus.)

3367 1980

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13186418

Gerald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala-Honduras (Boulogne: Editions Arts, 1985)., cat. no. 31 (illus.)

2538 1985

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16313916

Gérald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Art précolombien Mexique, Guatemala (Paris: Editions Arts 135, 1985).

2969 1985

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/14244748

Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 55 (illus.)

1899 1986

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/475098669

Arne Eggebrecht, Glanz und Untergang des Alten Mexiko: Die Azteken und ihre Vorläufer (Mainz: Verlag Phillip von Zabern, 1986)., cat. no. 213 (illus.)

2583 1986

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13327308

Linda Schele and Mary E. Miller, The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art (New York and Fort Worth, George Braziller, Inc. and Kimbell Art Museum, 1986)., pl. 12 (illus.)

2678 1986

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39548338

Linda Schele, Hidden Faces of the Maya (Poway: ALTI Publishing, 1997)., pl. 13 (illus.)

2680 1997

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58673487

Michael D. Coe, The Maya, 7th Edition (London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 2005)., pl. XIII (illus.)

2566 2005

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774833

Matthew H. Robb, "Only Collect," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 64 (2005): 42-51., p. 49, figs. 7–8

2746 2005

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/761310364

Andrea J. Stone, "Keeping Abreast of the Maya: A Study of the Female Body in Maya Art," Ancient Mesoamerica 22, no. 1 (Spring, 2011): p. 167-183., fig. 2a, 167–183 (illus., drawing)

2940 2011