Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "155446",
    "label": "Carved Vessel",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}

{
    "id": "155446",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Carved Vessel",
    "description": "A firefly is carved on both sides of this Maya vessel, which is from the Yucatán Peninsula. Among the most common of insects to appear in Maya art, the firefly seems to be associated with things that twinkle in the dark—stars and cigars, the latter a symbol that identifies creatures of the night.",
    "date": "c. 600–1000",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.173",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79943522"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Ceramic"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.173/1990.173_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.173/1990.173_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.173/1990.173_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 12.1 x 16.3 cm (4 3/4 x 6 7/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Mexico, Campeche, Maya, Chocholá Style"
    ],
    "accession": "1990.173"
}

{
    "tec": "earthenware",
    "tombstone": "Carved Vessel, c. 600–1000. Mexico, Campeche, Maya, Chocholá Style. Earthenware; overall: 12.1 x 16.3 cm (4 3/4 x 6 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener, 1990.173",
    "collection": "AA - Mesoamerica",
    "didYouKnow": "The text on the rim mentions a young man, suggesting this vessel was involved in a rite-of-passage ceremony.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Young-Sánchez, Margaret. \"The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.",
            "page_number": "Referenced: cat. no. 83, p. 272, Reproduced: fig. 83, p. 256",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161367."
        },
        {
            "citation": "Maurer, Evan M., and Molly Hennen. <em>Symboles sacrés: quatre mille ans d'art des Amériques. </em>Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002.",
            "page_number": "p. 110, Cat. No. 83"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.173",
    "creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 08:02:33.903000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.173/1990.173_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 155446,
    "dept": "Art of the Americas",
    "coll": "AA - Mesoamerica",
    "med": "earthenware",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}

{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.173/1990.173_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "c79f496744f1633b"
}