Pair of Figure in Flower Ornaments (500–900): Art, History and Details

Pair of Figure in Flower Ornaments (500–900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Figures within flowers are one of the most enchanting themes of the Maya ceramic art of Jaina, an island off the western Yucatán coast. The figures, usually males who cross their arms over their bodies, are either radiantly youthful or aged (as here), suggesting a relationship to the life cycle.

Object facts

• Title: Pair of Figure in Flower Ornaments
• Date: 500–900
• Culture: Mexico, Yucatán, Jaina Island region, Campeche, Maya style (250-900)
• Type: Jewelry
• Technique: earthenware with slip
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3 cm (1 3/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1967.155

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Wadhams in memory of Miss Helen Humphreys

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Year in Review.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 10 (December 1967): 302–346.

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.