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Source Description
Its pose and jewelry suggest this flamboyantly painted figure may represent a human clad in the skin of a jaguar. Because the jaguar is the largest, most powerful predator in Mesoamerica, it was a natural metaphor for earthly and supernatural power alike.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
155456
label
Plate
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155456
contentType
object
title
Plate
description
Its pose and jewelry suggest this flamboyantly painted figure may represent a human clad in the skin of a jaguar. Because the jaguar is the largest, most powerful predator in Mesoamerica, it was a natural metaphor for earthly and supernatural power alike.
date
c. 800
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60778381
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 6.5 x 41.5 cm (2 9/16 x 16 5/16 in.)
cul
Mexico, Campeche, Maya
accession
1990.182
Source extras
tec
earthenware with colored slips
tombstone
Plate, c. 800. Mexico, Campeche, Maya. Earthenware with colored slips; overall: 6.5 x 41.5 cm (2 9/16 x 16 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener, 1990.182
collection
AA - Mesoamerica
didYouKnow
Apex predators like jaguars are natural power metaphors.
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
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 256
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:02:37.569000
sourceId
155456
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Mesoamerica
med
earthenware with colored slips
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
144a1f4e46bfc94f