The decoration of this cylindrical polychrome vessel is divided into two panels. Each panel presents a seated figure adorned with jewels. The figures are shown with their right arms outstretched—one with palm up, the other with palm down. They sit upon cushions with jaguar-pelt decoration and are framed by elements suggesting an architectural setting. Painted pseudoglyphs appear in front of each figure: a vertical grouping of three above, another vertical set of two below. While these small glyphlike motifs and cushions are reminiscent of short hieroglyphic captions on other painted vessels of the Classic period, in this case the elements do not appear to compose a true text.
The paste is tan-orange in color, and the vessel’s relatively thick walls were covered with two different slips: one for the exterior and a second for the interior. The exterior received a base color of cream slip followed by black and red painted bands, figures, and motifs, thus creating the overall polychrome design. The interior, by contrast, was painted with an orange slip and secondary red and black painted bands. This orange slip covers the interior surface less thoroughly than the exterior slip, especially near the bottom of the vessel.
Vertical red painted elements divide the two panels, which are suggestive of architectural elements, possibly doorjambs decorated with jaguar-patterned hangings. The vessel’s painted rim and basal bands complete the impression of an architectural lintel and palace floor. The panels cover almost half of the cylinder’s circumference, such that when viewed as an object (rather than in a rollout image of the vessel’s decoration), each side presents a young figure framed as if seated in a palace room viewed from an adjacent courtyard.
The young lords in this vessel represent the maize gods. The figures have similar profile poses, although each lord gestures differently with his right hand. The front headdress elements balance the feather and jewel elements festooning the maize god’s typically elongated head. In addition to the headdress, each figure wears a long strand of beads ending with a large pendant, as well as earflares and bracelets. Around the waist of each figure is a hip cloth of decorated textile—one with red coloration, the other with jaguar patterning and a complex belt.

Benson, Elizabeth P. 1969 Supplement to the Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C., cat. 443.

Coe, Michael D. 1975 Classic Maya Pottery at Dumbarton Oaks. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington. p. 16-17, cat. 8, pl. 8.

Kerr, Justin (ED.) 1990 The Maya Vase Book: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases. 2. Kerr Associates, New York. p. 290, cat. K2782.

Kerr, Justin n.d. Maya Vase Data Base: An Archive of Rollout Photographs., URL: <http://www.mayavase.com/>. cat. K2782.

Pillsbury, Joanne, Miriam Doutriaux, Reiko Ishihara-Brito and Alexandre Tokovinine (EDS.) 2012 Ancient Maya Art at Dumbarton Oaks. Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, Number 4. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., p. 326-328, pl. 58, fig. 179.

Reents-Budet, Dorie 2001 Classic Maya Concepts of the Royal Court: An Analysis of Renderings on Pictorial Ceramics. In Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya; Vol. I : Theory, Comparison, and Synthesis, pp. 195-233. 1 ed. Westview, Boulder p. 196.

“Gifts of Friendship: A Selection of Artworks Given to Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss by their Friends”, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, 3/1 - 6/5/2010.

"Lasting Impressions: Body Art in the Ancient Americas" , Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, 10/1/2011 - 3/4/2012.

Purchased from Alphonse Jax, New York (dealer), by John S. Thacher, before 1968.

Gift to Dumbarton Oaks in Memory of Mr. Robert Woods Bliss by John S. Thacher , 1968

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, DC.