-
86. Certain Types of Stamped Decoration on Pottery from the Valley of Mexico (1947)
- University Press of Colorado
- Chapter
- Additional Information
341 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 86 December 18, 1947 Certain Types of Stamped Decoration on pottery from the Valley of Mexico Hasso von Winning In discussing a collection of pottery from Texcuaco on the Rio Coyolate, Department of Escuintla, Guatemala, Dr. A. V. Kidder (Note 15) refers to a vase which bears two rectangular panels, impressed by the same stamp (Fig. 86.1.1). Each panel is outlined, after stamping, with an incised line. Near the base are three small heads, made in the same mold and luted to the wall. The ringstand or pedestal base has been broken. Precise data as to the provenience of this specimen are lacking. So far Dr. Kidder’s commentary . For reasons of harmonious composition the panels are stamped in such a way that one has to turn them to the left to perceive the design, which depicts a human face surrounded by what appears to be the head of a serpent, whose upper jaw covers a human head. The serpent’s eye is depicted vertically adjoining the earplug. The rest of the motif consists of scrolls, done in a flamboyant manner which strongly suggests Maya Old Empire style. Since the decoration was done by means of a stamp, this specimen can be considered as belonging to the group of sculptured vessels. According to Lothrop (1936a), this type of pottery falls into two major groups: those carved before firing and those carved after firing. Further, there are various combinations of the technique. In Figure 86.1 the decoration must have been applied while the outer surface of the clay was soft. A vessel with an almost identical design executed in low relief has been recently purchased by the writer at Santiago Ahuixotla, in the Valley of Mexico. It is a bowl with rounded bottom and four identically stamped panels (Fig. 86.1.2). No incised lines frame the panels; the edges, however, were sharply cut after the impression was made. Each convex panel is flanked by a groovelike depression. The relief is not very deep, yet the details are clearly distinguishable. The yellow-brown color of the clay, the brown slip, and the stick-polishing on both sides suggest that this vessel falls in a post-Classical period of Teotihuacan. The dullness of the stampedout panels contrasts with the polished surface of the undecorated parts. The position of the decorative pattern is the same as that of the Guatemala vessel; that is, one has to turn it to the left to recognize the motif. The serpent’s jaw is opened wide and frames a human head. On the Guatemala vessel (Fig. 86.1.1) there is a short speech-scroll in front of the mouth of the priest or god, whereas the Ahuixotla specimen shows a sinuous detail, representing a tooth or teeth, set in the mouth. The same details denote the serpent’s incisors on both the upper and lower jaw. The supraorbital plates of god and serpent are identical in design. From a large scroll there emerges what seems to be a human extremity. This composition is almost duplicated by a fragment found by Linné at Teotihuacan (Linné 1934, Fig. 130-A). Although incomplete, the Teotihuacan sherd exhibits enough details to make possible a comparison, and the foregoing specimens prove the correctness of Linné’s explanations. He classified his find as “Maya style” and compared it with a vessel cover from Ranchito de las Animas, which haSSo von Winning 342 Strebel remarked might have come from another region (Strebel 1885–1889:69). Furthermore, Linné sees analogies in the Teotihuacan sherd with the once famous relief vase from San Agustin Acasaguastlan, Guatemala, to demonstrate the Maya origin of the sherd. This comparison, however, can no longer be sustained, since doubt about the authenticity of the Acasaguastlan vase has been substantiated (Thompson 1942). Yet the similarity to the other relief-decorated fragments found by Linné at Teotihuacan points strongly toward Maya origin. Theconceptofcombiningaserpentwithahuman head set in its jaws is manifested in Maya art where it represents the final steps in the evolution of the divine serpent (Spinden 1913). Figure 86.2.3 shows an example in stone sculpture from Yaxchilan, in which a human head...