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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Tripod Bowl
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Tripod Bowl

Artist/Maker (Mesoamerica)
Dateca. 650-750
Mediummarble
DimensionsOverall: 6 3/8 x 10 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (16.2 x 26.7 x 24.8 cm)
ClassificationsContainers
Credit LineMuseum purchase through 1987 Acquisition Funds
Terms
    Object number87.0002
    DescriptionElaborate, carved marble bowls such as this one were made in a single valley of modern day Honduras and traded throughout the Classic Maya world. They were highly valued for the semi-translucent quality of the marble that warmed to the touch. This example has handles made in the form of a bat, an animal with close ties to both the supernatural arena of caves, believed to be entrances to the Underworld, as well as royal dynasties at sites such as Copán. Bats also thrive in cacao, or chocolate groves, another very important trade items from this part of Honduras. The volutes, or swirls, around the body of this vase may represent the movement of water or blood, but it has also been suggested they are speech scrolls or the exhalation required for speech. The upper and lower borders are meant to resemble the scales of a lizard or snake.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Jar
    Maya (archaeological culture)
    ca. 700-1200
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Vertumnus
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 200-250
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bowl
    Maya (archaeological culture)
    ca. 600-900
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Portrait of a Roman Matron
    Artist Unknown
    late 2nd to early 3rd century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Hero Relief
    Artist Unknown
    2nd to 3rd century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Monkey
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 1000-1550
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Portrait of a Bearded Roman (possibly Emperor Antoninus Pius)
    Artist Unknown
    mid 2nd century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Funerary Urn
    Zapotec
    ca. 600-800
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Spouted Jar
    Lenca
    ca. 300 BCE-400 CE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Spouted Jar
    Lenca
    ca. 300 BCE-400 CE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Pendant
    Maya (archaeological culture)
    ca. 600-900
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Double Chamber Jar
    Teotihuacán
    ca. 600-900
    eMuseum
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