Currently not on view

Old woman and infant

2003-26

Elderly women in Mesoamerica frequently served as midwives and cared for young children. This woman’s expression is kind, and her gentle touch of the child is nurturing. The child exhibits the elongated head, produced by binding the soft skulls of infants, that was considered beautiful among the Maya. The figures may be portraits of specific individuals, generalized portrayals of social roles, or mythical figures. Chak Chel is the Maya goddess of various women's activities, including midwifery, childbirth, and weaving; the baby might be the young Maize God, who is consistently rendered as an idealized, beautiful human, or he may be a young prince.

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More Context

Special Exhibition

Elderly women in Mesoamerica frequently served as midwives and cared for young children. The two figurines displayed here confirm the long history and range of this tradition, as they were produced some 1,000 years apart and in far-flung areas of Mexico. The example from Xochipala (y1982-14) incorporates striking anatomical detail in both the woman and the infant, although both are devoid of emotion. In contrast, the expression on the face of the Maya woman (2003-26) seems kind, her gentle touch of the child nurturing. This figurine depicts the same goddess, Chak Chel, who was featured at the beginning of this exhibition in her oppositional, dangerous aspect. While Chak Chel was associated with disease, she was also a patroness of midwives.

Information

Object Number

2003-26

Medium

Ceramic with traces of Maya blue pigment

Dates

A.D. 600–800

Dimensions

h. 11.3 cm., w. 7.4 cm., d. 8.0 cm. (4 7/16 x 2 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.)

Culture

Maya

Credit Line

Gift of Gillett G. Griffin

Place Made

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

Type

figurines, ceramics

Subject

women, infants, figures (representations), mythology, iconography

Materials

ceramic, pigment

May 12, 1962, Furman Gallery, New York, sold to Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016), Princeton, NJ [1]; 2003, gift of Gillett G. Griffin to the Princeton University Art Museum. Notes: [1] According to the Furman Gallery invoice in the curatorial file.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21492292

Karl A. Taube, "The Birth Vase: Natal Imagery in Ancient Maya Myth and Ritual," In The Maya Vase Book, Vol. 4, ed. Justin Kerr (New York: Kerr Associates, 1994).

2708 1994

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

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

2680 1997

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774848

"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2003," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 63 (2004): p. 101-141., p. 141

1822 2004

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54799516

Mary E. Miller and Simon Martin, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco, 2004)., pl. 32 (and rollout), 76–77 (illus.)

2924 2004

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774835

Mary E. Miller, "Rethinking Jaina: Goddesses, Skirts, and the Jolly Roger," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 64 (2005): 63–70., p. 65, fig. 2

3004 2005

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4937733003

Donald McVicker, "Figurines Are Us? The Social Organization of Jaina Island, Campeche, Mexico," in Ancient Mesoamerica 23, no. 2 (Fall, 2012): p. 211-234., p. 225 (illus.)

1449 2012