Maya. <em>Rattle of a Man Wearing a Bird Mask</em>, 500–850. Ceramic, 7 1/4 x 5 x 3 1/4 in. (18.4 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank Sherman Benson Fund and the Henry L. Batterman Fund, 37.2785PA. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.2785PA_overall_PS11.jpg)

Maya. Rattle of a Man Wearing a Bird Mask, 500–850. Ceramic, 7 1/4 x 5 x 3 1/4 in. (18.4 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank Sherman Benson Fund and the Henry L. Batterman Fund, 37.2785PA. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.2785PA_overall_PS11.jpg)

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These Mayan figurines are hollow and represent men wearing elaborate headdresses in various animal forms, such as a jaguar. These kinds of adornments represent high social status. Additionally, like the whistle you sent before they have musical elements.

The man with jaguar headdress is a whistle and the man wearing the bird mask is a rattle. These were common funerary items on Jaina Island in Mexico and likely served a ritual purpose.

Rattle of a Man Wearing a Bird Mask

Arts of the Americas

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor

Solid and hollow Maya ceramic figurines like these representing men wearing elaborate animal headdresses and masks are common funerary items, found primarily on Jaina Island in Mexico. High social status is indicated by the elaborate regalia and ornaments. The nobleman in the center wears a removable serpent-head headdress decorated with precious quetzal feathers, possibly associating him with the Feathered Serpent deity Kukulcán. The whistle on the left depicts a man wearing a jaguar mask and sacrificial scarf emblematic of the God of the Underworld. The rattle on the right represents a man wearing a bird mask and holding two rattles. His large, feathered back ornament is an attribute of the turkey or vulture. Turkeys (associated with fertility) and vultures (associated with sacrifice) were used as ceremonial offerings.

Figurillas maya sólidas y huecas como éstas, representando hombres que visten elaborados tocados animales y máscaras, son objetos funerarios comunes, encontrados principalmente en la Isla Jaina en México. La alta posición social se indica por los ropajes elaborados y la ornamentación. El hombre al centro lleva un tocado removible de cabeza de serpiente decorado con preciosas plumas de quetzal, asociándolo posiblemente a la deidad Kukulcán, la Serpiente Emplumada. El silbato a la izquierda muestra un hombre llevando una máscara de jaguar y un pañuelo ceremonial emblemático del Dios del Inframundo. La maraca a la derecha representa a un hombre llevando una máscara de pájaro, y sosteniendo dos maracas. El gran ornamento de plumas que lleva a su espalda es un atributo del pavo o zopilote. Pavos (asociados con fertilidad) y zopilotes (asociados con sacrificio) eran utilizados como ofrendas ceremoniales.

CULTURE Maya

MEDIUM Ceramic

DATES 500–850

PERIOD Pre-Spanish

DIMENSIONS 7 1/4 x 5 x 3 1/4 in. (18.4 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.2785PA

CREDIT LINE Frank Sherman Benson Fund and the Henry L. Batterman Fund

PROVENANCE Prior to 1842, provenance not yet documented; 1842, acquired in the Yucatan, Mexico by Benjamin Moore Norman of New Orleans, LA; 1844, gift of Benjamin Moore Norman to the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; 1950, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.

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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor

CAPTION Maya. Rattle of a Man Wearing a Bird Mask, 500–850. Ceramic, 7 1/4 x 5 x 3 1/4 in. (18.4 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank Sherman Benson Fund and the Henry L. Batterman Fund, 37.2785PA. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.2785PA_overall_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 37.2785PA_overall_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell about these.

The man with jaguar headdress is a whistle and the man wearing the bird mask is a rattle. These were common funerary items on Jaina Island in Mexico and likely served a ritual purpose.