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Lot Essay
Cf. Literature only records two other extant plaques, see The Art of the Maya Scribe, pl. 22 and 23 for the Leiden Plaque and for a companion to this belt plaque, Chefs d'Oeuvres Inédits, pls. 330-331, presently exhibited at the Miho Museum, Kyoto, Ancient Civilizations of the Americas, pl. 37. For a slightly earlier yet very similar example of a regal belt ornament-the Leiden Plaque (fig. 3) circa A.D. 320, exhibited at the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden and discovered in 1864, is one of the most renowned works of Early Classic jade, bearing one of the earliest undisputed dates in Maya history.
The companion of the belt plaque, probably having formed part of the original assemblage, (figs.1 and 2) holds a complimentary, symbolic role by referring to the sun, day and life whereas the present one represents darkness and death. The companion plaque represents the same lord (fig. 1) but with some differences: here he stands on two captives, enhancing the warrior role of the ruler, in contrast a 'Baby Jaguar', a supernatural creature, issues from his ceremonial bar, the cheek of the lord is marked by the k'in or Sun sign and the sumptuous headdress incorporates a 'Mexican Year Sign', signaling the strong influence of Teotihuacan on the Maya lowlands. The text states, the Long Count date 9.0.0.0.0, a bak'tun ending falling in December 11, A.D. 435, it continues with a reference to bloodletting and to the ruler's position as a subordinate of another city-state.
Interestingly a group of fragmentary and re-worked Early Classic belt plaques have been unearthed in Costa Rica, see Jade in Ancient Costa Rica, pl. 29 and fig. 36, with very similar iconography. As with Olmec jades found in Costa Rica it is certain that there were trade ties possibly using a coastal route. There is further suggestion that the alteration and dismemberment of such important Maya regalia was carried out by the Maya themselves, as symbolic acts of 'effacement' perhaps by succeeding dynasts.
The belt plaque forms part of a royal costume found in a grouping of three (see detail), it carries both an image and a hieroglyphic inscription as that of a Mayan stele reinforcing the celt's commemorative function. The workmanship captures Early Classic style at its apogee with the bold glyphs distinctive for this period. In Early Classic art, the symbolic message within a work of art often took precedence over the naturalistic depiction of the human figure. Here the lord is tightly surrounded with an array of symbols and accoutrements which define his regal and sacred rank. The clothing worn by the ruler including the present belt plaque is the most sacred costume of kings solely donned at the time of an accession ritual and at death. Much of the kingly regalia corresponds to the paraphernalia used for the gods in the Late Preclassic statuary. Mayan rulers and elite adorned themselves with a great quantity of jade ornaments not only to show their wealth and status but with the conviction that such greenstones held those magical qualities of verdant plant life and nature symbolically associated with an eternal expression of resurrection.
In this recent reading of the glyphic text, the principal elements include the presentation of an object (possibly a badge of office or a celt), a date which seems to suggest that of the death of the ruler 'he entered water', nine days after the presentation of the object. In the Maya belief system individuals at death entered the watery Underworld before being reborn in the afterlife.
The companion of the belt plaque, probably having formed part of the original assemblage, (figs.1 and 2) holds a complimentary, symbolic role by referring to the sun, day and life whereas the present one represents darkness and death. The companion plaque represents the same lord (fig. 1) but with some differences: here he stands on two captives, enhancing the warrior role of the ruler, in contrast a 'Baby Jaguar', a supernatural creature, issues from his ceremonial bar, the cheek of the lord is marked by the k'in or Sun sign and the sumptuous headdress incorporates a 'Mexican Year Sign', signaling the strong influence of Teotihuacan on the Maya lowlands. The text states, the Long Count date 9.0.0.0.0, a bak'tun ending falling in December 11, A.D. 435, it continues with a reference to bloodletting and to the ruler's position as a subordinate of another city-state.
Interestingly a group of fragmentary and re-worked Early Classic belt plaques have been unearthed in Costa Rica, see Jade in Ancient Costa Rica, pl. 29 and fig. 36, with very similar iconography. As with Olmec jades found in Costa Rica it is certain that there were trade ties possibly using a coastal route. There is further suggestion that the alteration and dismemberment of such important Maya regalia was carried out by the Maya themselves, as symbolic acts of 'effacement' perhaps by succeeding dynasts.
The belt plaque forms part of a royal costume found in a grouping of three (see detail), it carries both an image and a hieroglyphic inscription as that of a Mayan stele reinforcing the celt's commemorative function. The workmanship captures Early Classic style at its apogee with the bold glyphs distinctive for this period. In Early Classic art, the symbolic message within a work of art often took precedence over the naturalistic depiction of the human figure. Here the lord is tightly surrounded with an array of symbols and accoutrements which define his regal and sacred rank. The clothing worn by the ruler including the present belt plaque is the most sacred costume of kings solely donned at the time of an accession ritual and at death. Much of the kingly regalia corresponds to the paraphernalia used for the gods in the Late Preclassic statuary. Mayan rulers and elite adorned themselves with a great quantity of jade ornaments not only to show their wealth and status but with the conviction that such greenstones held those magical qualities of verdant plant life and nature symbolically associated with an eternal expression of resurrection.
In this recent reading of the glyphic text, the principal elements include the presentation of an object (possibly a badge of office or a celt), a date which seems to suggest that of the death of the ruler 'he entered water', nine days after the presentation of the object. In the Maya belief system individuals at death entered the watery Underworld before being reborn in the afterlife.