Artist:                     Faience; Painted Clay Figure Standing, Mayan

Title:                       Standing Subject

Date:                       700 B.C. – 400 B.C.

Region:                  The Classic period (c. 250–900 AD) witnessed the peak of large-scale construction and urbanism, the recording of monumental inscriptions, and a period of significant intellectual and artistic development, particularly in the southern lowland regions. They developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered empire consisting of numerous independent city-states. This includes the well-known cities of Tikal, Palenque, Copán and Calakmul, but also the lesser known Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, Altun Ha, and Bonampak, among others. The Early Classic settlement distribution in the northern Maya lowlands is not as clearly known as the southern zone, but does include a number of population centers, such as Oxkintok, Chunchucmil, and the early occupation of Uxmal. The most notable monuments are the stepped pyramids they built in their religious centers and the accompanying palaces of their rulers. The palace at Cancuen is the largest in the Maya area, though the site, interestingly, lacks pyramids. Other important archaeological remains include the carved stone slabs usually called stelae (the Maya called them tetun, or "tree-stones"), which depict rulers along with hieroglyphic texts describing their genealogy, military victories, and other accomplishments. The Maya civilization participated in long distance trade with many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, including Teotihuacan, the Zapotec and other groups in central and Gulf-Coast Mexico, as well as with more distant, non-Mesoamerican groups, for example the Tainos in the Caribbean. Archeologists have also found gold from Panama in the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza. Important trade goods included cacao, salt, sea shells, jade and obsidian.

Medium:                Clay, Mayan Figure, Painted Faience

Materials:              Clay and natural colors

Markings:              Painted

Dimensions:          8"

Framed:                  No

Inventory No:       NAPT.1999.000013

Provenance:          Neal Prince Trust u/a/d 10.18.1999

Mr. Neal Prince

Mr. Neal A. Prince and Mr. Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.¹