Chac Mool in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Chac Mool

Date: A.D. 800–1250

Geography: Mexico, Yucatan

Culture: Maya

Medium: Stone

Dimensions: H. 36 1/2 × W. 41 × D. 22 1/4 in., Wt. 1200 lb. (92.7 × 104.1 × 56.5 cm, 544316.429g)

Classification: Stone-Sculpture

Credit Line: Museo Regional de Antropología de Yucatán, Palacio Cantón, Secretaría de Cultura-INAH, Mérida (10-290458)

Sculptures of this type, featuring a reclining male figure holding a bowl on his torso, were given the invented name Chac Mool by nineteenth-century explorers during an archaeological expedition to Chichen Itza. The figure is adorned with a headdress, earflares, bracelets, and anklets, all likely depicted as if they were made of jade. The bowl served as a receptacle for sacrificial liquids and burnt offerings and may have been symbolic of the circular cenotes.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/747580