The Guennol Jade Pendant of the Maize Deity

Alastair Bradley and Edith Martin, New York, acquired by 1977

By descent to the present owner

Mary Ann Durgin, “Jades Plaques”, The Guennol Collection, Vol. II, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, p. 130

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982 - August 2014 (On loan to the museum from December 28, 1977 - April 14, 2016)

The dynamic carving is an important version of the maize god, shown as a contortionist with feet kicked back over his head and his tufts of hair curling in plaits resembling the flowing silk of early maize ears. 

The natural modulations of color and thick form of the jade cobble have been carefully considered and used to enliven the mythical scene. The figure faces down within the thin rim of a cartouche with a bifurcated scroll before his left arm and the kicked back legs surrounded by similar scrolls and the suggestion of a zoomorphic head at the top. The figure’s youthful face looks forward with the coiffure swept up in curling plaits,  he is adorned with a bead necklace, earrings and bracelet and wears a segmented belt. The pendant is pierced along the length for suspension, the reverse is polished and smooth with remains of septum visible. 

The maize god as acrobat appears on Early Classic jades, particularly those from Copan. Taube notes this handstand pose of the maize god references the concept of the axis mundi world tree. “The maize god as the world tree is an appropriate metaphor for the ritual caches [ ],  the practice of burying offerings was a symbolic form of planting” (Karl A. Taube, “Ornament”, in Joanne Pillsbury, Miriam Doutriaux Reiko Ishihara-Brito, Alexandre Tokovinine, eds., Ancient Maya Art at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., 2012,  p. 199).

Cf. For a similar jade acrobat pendant, see Taube, ibid., p. 198, fig. 110b.