Lidded Vessel

Once used to serve drinking chocolate (cacao), this vessel was a focal point in Maya political and ceremonial feasts. The aristocratic families of polities held feasts to develop and strengthen alliances among the Maya. These vessels and similar wares were also used in both secular and religious rites of passage and given as gifts. The supernatural significance of this vessel is visible through the incisions of the maize god's manifestation as the chocolate god sprouting cacao pods.

No ancient Mayan feast was complete without chocolate, offered to guests in pots like this one. Rather than formed into bars for eating, chocolate for the ancient Maya was a drink spiced with chili peppers and sweetened with honey. The theme of chocolate is reinforced in the vessel’s decoration, from the cacao beans (from which chocolate is made) sculpted on its body to the lid’s handle, which is shaped like a cacao tree. The Mayan Maize God, the most important deity for the Maya, is shown as his avatar the “Chocolate God,” on the incised panels. He is represented as a tree sprouting cacao pods. For the latest information about this object, Lidded Vessel, visit the Online Collection of the ...