Mexico, Campeche, Maya / c. 800
Plate
Plate
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Plate as ceramic (Mexico, Campeche, Maya · c. 800).
WHY IT’S INTERESTING
Apex predators like jaguars are natural power metaphors.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as earthenware with colored slips.
The museum's collection notes: Its pose and jewelry suggest this flamboyantly painted figure may represent a human clad in the skin of a jaguar. Because the jaguar is the largest, most powerful predator in Mesoamerica, it was a natural metaphor for earthly and supernatural power alike.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPlateOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.