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Auction archive: Lot number 14

IMPORTANT MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE

Auction 15.06.2002
15 Jun 2002
Estimate
€150,000 - €200,000
ca. US$143,316 - US$191,088
Price realised:
€215,750
ca. US$206,136
Auction archive: Lot number 14

IMPORTANT MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE

Auction 15.06.2002
15 Jun 2002
Estimate
€150,000 - €200,000
ca. US$143,316 - US$191,088
Price realised:
€215,750
ca. US$206,136
Beschreibung:

IMPORTANT MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE Maya, Palenque?, chiapas, Mexique, Classique récent, 600-900 ap. J.C. Tête de dignitaire ou de prêtre, forme générale ovale et épaisse formant un portrait d'homme très réaliste, pierre dure verdâtre polie et parcheminée de veines brunes, certaines soulignées en profondeur, éclats visibles, petite restauration sur le bout du nez AN IMPORTANT BURIAL MASK of a priest or nobleman, of generally oval shape, portraying the face of a man in a most naturalistic manner, the green stone is polished and threaded with brown veins, some underlined in depth (some damages, some small areas of restoration on the tip of the nose) 18cm high, 15.5cm wide, 10.5cm deep A certifcate from Mr Charles Ratton will be transferred to the purchaser. Mr Jean Hoppan, officer at the National Centre for the Study of Indiginous Languages (CNRS) has kindly agreed to make a study of this fine mask. Below are his comments: "This mask is a unique object. In fact its manufacture reminds one very much of that of several so called 'olmeque' masks, which have been ded to pre-classical times. Here, however, a human face whose features are as much in their profile (sloping forehead, aquiline nose) as in the treatment of the eyes (almond shaped) in the classical Mayan style. Only the style of the ears remains rather 'olmeque'. However, no equivalent Mayan mask of this type is known. Furthermore, an inscription of a type which is also classically Mayan is incised on the forehead of the face, glyphs picked out in red with cinnabar against the green polished stone. The three glyphs of the inscription are laid out horizontally: The first glyph on the left is composed of a single sign representing a hand, whose thumb, from top to left, is pointed downwards. At the bottom, the other fingers are pointing to the left, in a manner which recalls the sign no 170 in the catalogue of Eric Thompson in 1982, showing a hand in the process of ? or sprinkling water. Having said this, the first sign incised on the mask has the fingers clearly bent. Thus this hand appears to represent the second variant listed by Thompson in his 1982 'Appendix', no 220. In 1992, Linda Schele proposed that this form can be read as K'OH (mask). The second glyph, in the centre, is composed of two signs: A logogramme of the colours blue and green (Appendix, No 16 in Thompson's catalogue), may be read as YAX ('green', 'blue'), which may be an allusion to the colour of the rock out of which the mask was carved. A sign in the form of a crescent representing the mouth of the 'earthly monster', the 'crescent' relates in its carved form to the monuments of the classical period, to the sign No 769 in Thompson's catalogue, and in its painted form to the manuscripts of the post classical period, to sign No 591. Michel Davoust proposed back in 1987 that the sign related to a logogramme WAY, whose meaning is 'Bed', 'Bedroom', and more generally 'room', but also 'magician', this term being the root of the verbs which, in the Mayan languages, mean 'to sleep' and 'to dream' (WAYEL in Tzeltal) or even 'to dream' and 'to have preomonition dreams' (WAYAK in Yucatec, which is used as a noun to signify also 'prediction or words of a fortune teller or dream'. In addition this second glyph can be read as YAX WAY (blue/green magician) or even (blue/green bed/room). The third glyph, on the right, is composed of three signs: - on the left, a sign corresponding to that which Bishop Diego de Landa mentions as an equivalent Mayan word for the letter i (sign no 679 in Thompson's catalogue) in his book Relacion de las cosas de Yucutan , 1566. - on the right, a variant stripped of the small circle in its left half of the sign no 513 in Thompson's catalogue, the form functioning in the Mayan script as a syllabogramme 'Te' - at the bottom, 'Apprendix' No 126 in Thompsons' catalogue, probably a syllabogramme 'ya' This third glyphe may therefore be read as I-te-y(a) or ite'(e)y, the meaning of which curren

Auction archive: Lot number 14
Auction:
Datum:
15 Jun 2002
Auction house:
Christie's
Paris
Beschreibung:

IMPORTANT MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE Maya, Palenque?, chiapas, Mexique, Classique récent, 600-900 ap. J.C. Tête de dignitaire ou de prêtre, forme générale ovale et épaisse formant un portrait d'homme très réaliste, pierre dure verdâtre polie et parcheminée de veines brunes, certaines soulignées en profondeur, éclats visibles, petite restauration sur le bout du nez AN IMPORTANT BURIAL MASK of a priest or nobleman, of generally oval shape, portraying the face of a man in a most naturalistic manner, the green stone is polished and threaded with brown veins, some underlined in depth (some damages, some small areas of restoration on the tip of the nose) 18cm high, 15.5cm wide, 10.5cm deep A certifcate from Mr Charles Ratton will be transferred to the purchaser. Mr Jean Hoppan, officer at the National Centre for the Study of Indiginous Languages (CNRS) has kindly agreed to make a study of this fine mask. Below are his comments: "This mask is a unique object. In fact its manufacture reminds one very much of that of several so called 'olmeque' masks, which have been ded to pre-classical times. Here, however, a human face whose features are as much in their profile (sloping forehead, aquiline nose) as in the treatment of the eyes (almond shaped) in the classical Mayan style. Only the style of the ears remains rather 'olmeque'. However, no equivalent Mayan mask of this type is known. Furthermore, an inscription of a type which is also classically Mayan is incised on the forehead of the face, glyphs picked out in red with cinnabar against the green polished stone. The three glyphs of the inscription are laid out horizontally: The first glyph on the left is composed of a single sign representing a hand, whose thumb, from top to left, is pointed downwards. At the bottom, the other fingers are pointing to the left, in a manner which recalls the sign no 170 in the catalogue of Eric Thompson in 1982, showing a hand in the process of ? or sprinkling water. Having said this, the first sign incised on the mask has the fingers clearly bent. Thus this hand appears to represent the second variant listed by Thompson in his 1982 'Appendix', no 220. In 1992, Linda Schele proposed that this form can be read as K'OH (mask). The second glyph, in the centre, is composed of two signs: A logogramme of the colours blue and green (Appendix, No 16 in Thompson's catalogue), may be read as YAX ('green', 'blue'), which may be an allusion to the colour of the rock out of which the mask was carved. A sign in the form of a crescent representing the mouth of the 'earthly monster', the 'crescent' relates in its carved form to the monuments of the classical period, to the sign No 769 in Thompson's catalogue, and in its painted form to the manuscripts of the post classical period, to sign No 591. Michel Davoust proposed back in 1987 that the sign related to a logogramme WAY, whose meaning is 'Bed', 'Bedroom', and more generally 'room', but also 'magician', this term being the root of the verbs which, in the Mayan languages, mean 'to sleep' and 'to dream' (WAYEL in Tzeltal) or even 'to dream' and 'to have preomonition dreams' (WAYAK in Yucatec, which is used as a noun to signify also 'prediction or words of a fortune teller or dream'. In addition this second glyph can be read as YAX WAY (blue/green magician) or even (blue/green bed/room). The third glyph, on the right, is composed of three signs: - on the left, a sign corresponding to that which Bishop Diego de Landa mentions as an equivalent Mayan word for the letter i (sign no 679 in Thompson's catalogue) in his book Relacion de las cosas de Yucutan , 1566. - on the right, a variant stripped of the small circle in its left half of the sign no 513 in Thompson's catalogue, the form functioning in the Mayan script as a syllabogramme 'Te' - at the bottom, 'Apprendix' No 126 in Thompsons' catalogue, probably a syllabogramme 'ya' This third glyphe may therefore be read as I-te-y(a) or ite'(e)y, the meaning of which curren

Auction archive: Lot number 14
Auction:
Datum:
15 Jun 2002
Auction house:
Christie's
Paris
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