Maya Cylinder Vessel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Title: Cylinder vessel

Date: 7th–9th century

Geography: Mexico, Yucatan

Culture: Maya

Medium: Earthenware with slip

Dimensions: H. 7 1/4 × Diam. 6 5/8 in. (18.4 × 16.8 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Vessels

Credit Line: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Gift of Frank Carroll in memory of Frank and Eleanor Carroll, 2014.83

Accession Number: SL.2.2022.9.3


Created in a style emulating wood or stone carving, this vessel features a young woman cradling a cub and confined inside a large conch shell depicted in a cutaway view. She is likely the daughter of the old god who sits next to the shell. Modern narratives tell of young goddesses whose parents keep them away from suitors by locking them inside jars, boxes, or other enclosures—the function of the conch shell here. Despite their precautions, suitors still manage to enter, in this case producing animal offspring.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/820247