Crown Ornament (Hu’unal) (250–900 CE): Art, History and Details

Crown Ornament (Hu’unal) (250–900 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This plaque, which represents the head of a deity affiliated with Maya royalty, served as a ruler’s crown ornament (hu’unal). It was attached to the crown via the holes along the back edge in such a way that the identical carvings on both sides were visible. The ornament is now broken along the upper edge.

Object facts

• Title: Crown Ornament (Hu’unal)
• Date: 250–900 CE
• Culture: Mexico or Central America, Maya
• Type: Jade
• Technique: jadeite-albitite
• Dimensions: Overall: 7 x 0.6 x 7.4 cm (2 3/4 x 1/4 x 2 15/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1993.7

A detail from the museum

This plaque represents the head of a deity affiliated with Maya royalty.

Collection credit

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “1993 Annual Report.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 6 (July 1994): 143–218.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.