Relief panels (door reveals)

Dateca. AD 550-950

Label TextA dwarf stands between two male warrior lords facing each other in these panels. These panels were cut into two sections after their archaeological discovery. Originally, they would have been one singular sculpture placed inside the top of a doorway of a palace or temple. When people passed through the doorway, the figures would have been activated through song, dance and copal incense. The imagery of the sculpture refers to dynastic transitions, the Maya creation story, and the resurrection of the Maize god, Hun Hunaphu. The figure's eyes, noses and mouths were damaged as part of a ritual process that put them to sleep.

Object number2018.3.1

Provenance[David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California, by 1961]; private collection, Los Angeles, California, by 1980; [Sotheby’s, New York, Pre-Columbian Art, Nov. 25, 1996, sale no. 6921, lot no. 187, reproduced]; purchased by private sale through Sotheby’s to Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington, 1997; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2018

Photo CreditPhoto: Mark Woods

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art, Nov. 10, 2018 - ongoing.Published ReferencesKarl Herbert Mayer, Maya Monuments: Sculptures of Unknown Provenance in the United States, Ramona, 1980, pp. 37-38; reproduced in Mayer, Maya Monuments, Supplement I, Berlin, 1987, pl. 34.

Credit LineGift in honor of Assen Nicolov

DimensionsBoth panels together: 45 x 45 in. (114.3 x 114.3 cm) Left panel: 45 x 22 x 3 in. (114.3 x 55.9 x 7.6 cm) Right panel: 45 x 23 x 3 in. (114.3 x 58.4 x 7.6 cm)

MediumLimestone