Property from a European Private Collection
Ceremonial Maya Stone Metate, North Coastal Honduras
Postclassic, circa AD 800 - 1100
Length: 36 in (92 cm)
Andre Emmerich, New York (inv. no. M256)
European Private Collection, acquired from the above on March 24, 1973
Thence by descent
Such Maya metate are rare and divergent from the Central American examples which have survived in abundance. Honduran metates are characterized by the up-curving platforms, shorter legs, and dramaticdeeply carved ferocious heads as a counterbalance to the weighty volcanic stone.

Here, the mythical creature’s fangs are bared and a long tongue curls upward; together with a large mano.

For similar metates, see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Acc. No. 1979.206.887; Elisabeth Kennedy Easby, Ancient Art of Latin America from the Collection of Jay C. Leff, A Special Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, November, 1966, no. 485.
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