Painted Maya vessels are the most extraordinary ceramic art of the New World. In the lively paintings and carvings that encircle their exteriors, Maya pots provide a window on ancient religion, ancient story telling, and even the way art came to be made. In this polychrome cylinder the lord, seated on a table throne beneath a canopy, wears only the skirt, jewelry, and headdress suitable for an interior event. The lord shown in this vessel gestures towards a coarsely featured attendant, possible a captive, who kneels in submission with arms crossed on his chest.
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