Maya Embracing Couple in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Title: Embracing couple

Date: 7th–9th century

Geography: Mexico

Culture: Maya

Medium: Ceramic, pigment

Dimensions: H. 9 7/8 × W. 3 3/4 × D. 4 1/4 in. (25.1 × 9.5 × 10.8 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Sculpture

Credit Line: Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Katherine Margaret Kay Bequest Fund and New Endowment Fund

Accession Number: SL.2.2022.6.1


Ceramic figurines provided artists with opportunities to depict lively, sometimes sexually suggestive mythical episodes. Women were depicted individually or interacting with others, including lecherous old men. The man lifting the skirt of a young woman here is both older and smaller than she, features intended to make his amorous approaches appear pathetic and humorous.

A mouthpiece in the back turns these hollow figurines into whistles. Their pigments include Maya blue, obtained through the chemical combination of indigo with a special kind of clay.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/820242