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521 Description of Vessels An excellent description of the effigy incense burners of Mayapán has been published by R. M. Adams, Jr. (1953:146–168), and supplementary information by H. D. Winters (1955:385–388). Accordingly, it is sufficient here to give an outline of their material and to refer readers to those sources. Full technical information will appear in R. E. Smith’s forthcoming study of the pottery of Mayapán. Effigy censers are made of coarse, unslipped pottery. The effigy is attached to the front of a thickwalled vase which stands on a high pedestal base, both slightly flaring. The headdress of the effigy usually rises 10 to 15 cm above the rim of the vase. The tallest censer found at Mayapán is 68 cm high, but the more usual height seems to have been some 10 cm less. Some censers, although none of this class is complete, are of medium size, perhaps about 40 cm high, and an occasional specimen is diminutive; Ruppert and Smith (1954, Fig. 7k) illustrate one only 13 cm high. Vase diameters are about 18 cm. There may be a lime wash on the exterior of the vessel; interiors, particularly the bases, of many are fire blackened. Small vent holes in the pedestals and in the bases of bowls are further evidence that burning took place in these vessels. The effigy figure is attached to the front of the vessel, in an upright position. Winters (1955:385) mentions rare examples of seated effigies. I have not noted any of that class at Mayapán, although elsewhere seated personages and diving gods are common on effigy censers. Legs are freestanding, apart, with feet parallel, and attached to the bowl immediately below the buttocks. The sandal normally has an ankle guard to which is attached a cord with a flap over the arch of the foot. A number of the feet show a cord between the first and second and the third and fourth toes. Toenails are carefully indicated. C u r r e n t R e p o r t s Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Archaeology No. 40 July 1957 Deities Portra yed on Censers at Ma yapán J. Eric S. ThompSon J. Eric S. ThompSon 522 In most figures the arms are bent at an angle of 90 degrees, palms up, and the hands may support offerings; in a few the hands are brought together in front of the stomach to hold an offering. Rarely a shield is on the left arm; in one effigy a hand grasps a spear thrower. Usually a wide loincloth end hangs between the legs, partly covering them, and reaching almost to the ankles. In width this loincloth is neither in the classic Maya tradition nor in that of Mexican representational art at Chichén Itzá. A half-skirt over buttocks and sides of thighs is reminiscent of the jaguarskin drawers worn by personages on stelae of the Central Maya area. A sort of short-sleeved jacket and a breast ornament are usually part of the costume; cuffs and bands below the knees may be shown. Winters notes three main types of headdress: a close-fitting cap or, in his words, cylindrical bonnet; a helmet in the shape of the jaws or beak of some animal or bird; and, very rarely, a kind of rectangular box. All headdresses appear to be topped by a flaring funnel and to have on each side a flap reaching to the shoulders. A pair of flanges, which project from the vase on either side of the effigy, serve as the two piece frame, usually of feather work, which was placed behind gods or their impersonators, and which is shown being placed in position on the murals of Bonampak (Ruppert, Thompson, and Proskouriakoff 1955, Fig. 27). Some parts of the effigies, notably faces, hands, and feet, were commonly made in molds. Molds for these faces have only occasionally been found at Mayapán; their rarity is not surprising, for potteries might not have been located within the city. Many details of dress and ornament were made separately and attached to the effigy before firing; often these details in appliqué become detached. Painting was done after firing. Colors observed are red, yellow, blue, green, gray, purple, brown, black, white, and, less commonly, gray, purple, and brown; both brown and gray may at times have been accidental. Sometimes there is an apparently intentional mixture of blue and green resulting...

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