Vessel with Battle Scene (600–900): Art, History and Details

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

The work and its context

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

Likely used as a political gift, this vessel depicts the presentation of prisoners in the aftermath of battle. A front-facing lord turns to review ten elegantly drawn warriors, some stripped of battle regalia and others dressed in elaborate headgear and garments, including tunics made of jaguar pelts. The hieroglyphs encircling the rim dedicate the vessel, used to drink an elite beverage made of cacao (chocolate) beans.

Object facts

• Title: Vessel with Battle Scene
• Date: 600–900
• Culture: Mesoamerica, Maya, Nebaj region, Late Classic Period, 7th-10th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: ceramic and slip
• Dimensions: Overall: 17.2 x 15.4 cm (6 3/4 x 6 1/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 2012.32

A detail from the museum

The Maya drank a chocolaty beverage with a spicy kick! Made using cacao seeds and chili peppers, the drink was consumed out of vessels like this one.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 02, March/April 2013

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.