Cylinder Vessel with Deities (600–900): Art, History and Details

Cylinder Vessel with Deities (600–900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Between AD 600 and 900, Maya cities and towns mushroomed in number, interacted, and competed. Since a distinctive ceramic painting style was part of many centers' identities, the number of styles exploded and painted pottery became a hallmark of the era. This vessel, painted with a ruler's patron deity (God K), is of a style produced briefly in one area of Guatemala's Chamá Valley.

Object facts

• Title: Cylinder Vessel with Deities
• Date: 600–900
• Culture: Guatemala, Kixpek, Maya (Chamá) style (250-900)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: earthenware with colored slips
• Dimensions: Diameter of mouth: 15.5 x 16.5 cm (6 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.); Overall: 16.6 cm (6 9/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1954.391

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund and an anonymous gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

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.