Vessel with Five Figures, c. A.D. 750–800

Processional scenes are a common mode of representation on Maya painted vessels. On each side of this vessel a noble lord prepares to dance with a lady. While the two women are clearly differentiated in dress and facial expression, the opposing male figure of a lord may in fact be the same individual, as the facial profiles with goatee beards are identical. The lord’s headdress features a band of jaguar pelts crowned by an animal head. The second male, standing between the two pairs of figures, is possibly an attendant. He holds a baton of a type that appears also in war scenes, here perhaps simply indicating his status. Just below the rim is the Primary Standard Sequence, a formulaic text that here describes the vessel as a vase for the chocolate drink; following it are the name glyphs of the vase’s royal owner or patron. The vertical texts are merely repetitions of the same glyph, perhaps meaningless.