This vessel is a masterpiece of composition
graced with the rich quality of its original
painting. The vivid hues of the central figure are
in blue, black, orange and brown against a
white-slipped pastel background. The central
figure represents the insatiable “earth monster".
A fantastic clawed, feathered and toad-like
creature, this Central American deity embodies
the earth, receives the dead, as well as the
heavenly bodies (gods) as they slip daily below
the horizon line into the nether world. This
creature is framed by what seems to be elaborate
shields trimmed with brilliantly colored feathers
with black balls at the ends. The large size of this
vessel reveals to us that it may have been the
centerpiece of attraction during rituals. We are
drawn again and again through this skillful
arrangement, compelled to pleasantly remember
the fantastic creatures envisioned in our own
childhood.
- (PF.3254)
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