This hand-modeled figurine depicts a stoic woman seated with her legs crossed, hands resting upon knees. She wears an off-the-shoulder, loose tunic and an ankle-length skirt. Her wrists are adorned with cuffs of rectangular beads, while she wears a necklace of spherical ones. She has a simple headband and neatly coiffed hair, as well as large, round ear flare assemblages.
Her facial features exemplify the idealized standards of Maya beauty. Her forehead is high and flat, sloping back slightly. She has heavy-lidded almond shaped eyes with prominent brows, a high Roman nose, and full lips parted gently.
Careful examination of the figure demonstrates that it is modeled fully in the round, including the bottom. Further, there is evidence that it was produced with multiple layers and applications of clay, since the body was modeled inside the garment. The back of the statuette shows a flat back, with openings for a whistle on the proper right shoulder and the back.
Further Reading
Finamore, Daniel and Stephen D. Houston. 2010. Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea. New Haven: Yale University Press and Salem: Peabody Essex Museum. [Pp. 58–61, Pls. 9–16]
Garcia Moll, Roberto. 1994. "Los mayas, arte y memoria." In Beatriz de la Fuente, ed., Mexico en el Mundo de las Colecciones de Arte, Vol. 2. Mexico: D.R. Primera. [See especially p. 39.]
Miller, Mary Ellen. 1975. Jaina Figurines: A Study of Maya Iconography. Princeton: Princeton Art Museum.
Miller, Mary and Simon Martin. 2004. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson. [Pls. 5, 8, 10-13; also 18web, 19, 41, 42, 44, 53, 57-60, 94-97, & 110-112]
Newton, Douglas, Julie Jones, and Kate Ezra. 1987. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Pacific Islands, Africa, and the Americas. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Credit: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979