
Collection Online as of May 28, 2023
Part of a set. See all set records
Ceramic
Average: 52.3 x 30.5 x 29.5 cm (20 9/16 x 12 x 11 5/8 in.)
Gift of Clara Taplin Rankin 1998.83.1
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
This couple-extremely fine examples of their kind-may commemorate the marriage of an important person, such as a chief, but could also represent siblings of a chiefly family. Whatever their relationship, their unity is conveyed by their physical similarities, including their jewelry, which marks high social station. The female is unusual in nursing an infant, likely a reference to generational renewal and the continuation of noble bloodlines. The significance of the male’s activity-beating a turtle-shell drum- is not understood.