Maya Standing Figure of a Dignitary, Jaina, Late Classic, circa 550 - 950 AD

Mathias Komor, New York (inv. no. L819)
Acquired from the above on March 5, 1962

During the Late Classic Period, the hierarchy of Maya elites encompassed several different titles. This dignified and hieratic figure depicts a Maya sajal, a dignitary who might be born into his position or given his title and power by a particular ruler; Houston and Stuart note that while a sajal may be born into his status, he "acquires its essence, its sajal-ship (sajal-il) only through rituals of enthronement" (Houston and Stuart, Peopling the Classic Maya Court, London, 2001, p. 61).

Standing in a proud posture, with his folded arms held out in front of him, this lord wears the attributes proper to his rank: an elaborate fillet headband, ear flares, necklace, and a long wrapped loincloth which retains a great deal of its beautiful Maya blue pigment. His nose has the high, arched bridge that was the Mayan ideal.