The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 7, 2022

Shell with Seated Noble

600–900

Mexico or Central America, Maya style

(250-900)

Conch shell

Overall: 16.6 x 7.9 x 3.5 cm (6 9/16 x 3 1/8 x 1 3/8 in.)

The Norweb Collection 1965.550

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Fun Fact

A Maya nobleman smokes a cigar as he reaches toward a shell with a serpent.

Description

This plaque, perhaps meant to be held in the hand for close viewing, is delicately incised with a ruler who leans toward a serpent-headed conch shell at the lower left. The lord, who smokes a cigar, is simply dressed in a loincloth; a band of body paint or tattoos appears on his chest.

Provenance
?-1965
Emery May Holden Norweb [1895-1984] and Raymond Henry Norweb [1894-1983], Cleveland OH, 1965, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1965
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 293 archive.org
Stechow, Wolfgang. "Cleveland's Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." Art News (September 1966) p. 34 & 64,
Lee, Sherman E. "Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 7 (1966) No. 49, p. 275 www.jstor.org
The Art Gallery Magazine (October 1966). p. 12
"The Cleveland Museum of Art, Golden Anniversary." Archaeology (October 1966). p. 282
"Golden Anniversary: Acquisitions by the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Burlington Magazine CVIII(November 1966). p. 579, fig. 51
Cleveland museum of art. Selected Works: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland museum of art, 1967. No. 229
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 293 archive.org
Jewkes, W. T., and Northrop Frye. Man the Myth-Maker. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. p. 396
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 396 archive.org
Robicsek, Francis. The Smoking Gods. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. p. 118, 140, fig. 155, pl. 124
Berjonneau, Gerald, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery. Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala-Honduras. Boulogne, France: Editions Arts, 1985.
Berjonneau, Gerald, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery. Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala-Honduras. Boulogne, France: Editions Arts, 1985. . p. 283, pl. 24
Lucena Salmoral, Manuel. América 1492: retrato de un continente hace quinientos años. Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores, 1991. p. 62
Cleveland Museum of Art. Masterpieces from East and West. New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992. p. 180
Sorenson, John L. Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life. Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1998. p. 151
Miller, Mary Ellen, and Megan E. O'Neill. Maya Art and Architecture. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. p. 221, pl. 197
Ahrndt, Wiebke. Starker Tobak: ein Wunderkraut erobert die Welt. Basel: Museum der Kulturen, 2000. p. 71
Grube, Nikolai. Maya Divine Kings of the Rainforest. H F Ullmann, 2016. p. 450
Blume, Anne. "Royal Visions: Art of the Maya Courts." Art in America (December 2004). pp 102-6, 151
Jackson, Sarah E. Politics of the Maya Court: Hierarchy and Change in the Late Classic Period. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. . p. 134, fig. 43
Graña-Behrens, Daniel, “Death and Deer Riding among the Ancient Maya of Northwest Yucatán, Mexico.” In The Archaeology of Yucatán (Travis Stanton, ed.), Archaeopress Pre-Columbian Archaeology 1 (2014). fig. 1.7
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; September 10- October 16, 1966. " Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." Cat. no. 49. repr. p. 278.

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 1986. Forth Worth, TX: Kimbell Art Museum; (1986). "The Blood of Kings: A New Interpretation of Maya Art."

Hildesheim, Germany: Roemer und Pelizaeus Museum; June 14- December 6, 1992. Vienna, Ausria: Kunstlerhaus; January 31- June 27, 1993. Cologne, Germany: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum; February 18- May 15, 1994. "The World of the Maya." cat. no. 99, repr.p. 421.

Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art; April 4- July 25, 2004. San Francisco, CA: California Palace of the Legion of Honor; September 4, 2004- January 2, 2005. "Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya." exh. cat. no. 69, p. 137.

Boston, MA: Peabody Essex Museum; March 27- July 18, 2010. Fort Worth, TX: The Kimbell Art Museum; August 29, 2010- January 2, 2011. St. Louis, MO: The Saint Louis Art Museum; February 13- May 8, 2011. "The Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea." cat. no. 40, plate 35, p. 114-115 and 301.

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

The World of the Maya. Roemer und Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany (organizer) (June 14-December 6, 1992); Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Köln, Germany (February 18-May 23, 1994).

Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (April 4-July 25, 2004); Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (September 4, 2004-January 2, 2005).

The Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (organizer) (March 27-July 18, 2010); Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (August 29, 2010-January 2, 2011); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (February 13-May 8, 2011).

Maya: Secrets of Their Ancient World. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto M5S 2C6, Canada (organizer) (November 19, 2011-April 9, 2012); Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Canada (May 17-October 28, 2012).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.550