Ceramics Books and Magazines

International Publications about Ceramic Research, Industry, Products, and Art

Location: Home » Ceramics Books » Native American » Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period (Duke University Museum of Art)

Main Categories

•	Ceramics Books
•	Ceramics Magazines

Similar Items:

•	Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya
•	The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art
•	Maya Art and Architecture (World of Art)
•	An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya
•	Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition Of The Mayan Book Of The Dawn Of Life And The Glories Of

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Lavishly illustrated with nearly 400 color images, Painting the Maya Universe is the most thorough study and brilliant display of Classic Maya ceramic painting yet published. Building on twenty years of research and debate, Dorie Reents-Budet and her collaborators Joseph W. Ball, Ronald L. Bishop, Virginia M. Fields, and Barbara MacLeod bring together many perspectives, including the art historical, archaeological, epigraphical, and ethnohistorical, to examine one of the world’s great but overlooked painting traditions. With an emphasis on sixth- to eighth-century pottery featuring both pictorial and hieroglyphic imagery, Painting the Maya Universe presents an extraordinary exploration of the cultural roles and meanings of these Guatemalan, Belizean, and Mexican elite painted ceramics. Maya pottery is discussed both in aesthetic terms and for the important information it reveals about Maya society, artistry, politics, history, religion, and ritual. The range of ceramic painting styles developed during this period is also presented and defined in detail.
Painting the Maya Universe is the first publication to present a definitive translation of the hieroglyphic texts painted on these objects. With many glyphs deciphered here for the first time, this analysis reveals much about how these vessels were perceived and used by the Maya, their owners’ names, and, in several cases, the names of the artists who created them. This information is combined with archaeological and other data, including nuclear chemical analyses, to correlate painting styles with specific Maya sites.
Published in conjunction with Duke University Museum of Art and an exhibition touring the United States, Painting the Maya Universe presents an astonishing visual record as well as a monumental scholarly achievement. With photographs by Justin Kerr, the foremost photographer of pre-Columbian art, it includes over 90 unique full-color rollout photographs, each showing the entire surface of an object in a single frame. The book also addresses the questions and controversy regarding the loss of information that occurs when objects are removed from their archaeological context to become part of public and private collections.
Painting the Maya Universe will energize discussion of Maya pottery, hieroglyphic texts, and iconography. Its photographs, a lasting resource on this great painting tradition, will stimulate and delight the eye. It is a breakthrough in art history and Latin American scholarship that will enrich general readers and scholars alike.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

A Tour de Force of Mayan Iconography April 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

As anyone who owns books on the ancient Maya will probably attest, they have a habit of becoming out of date rather rapidly; yesterday's Copan is today's Xukpi and yesterday's King 18-Rabbit is today's Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good thing. Unlike the vast body of scholarship that Egyptologists can only hope to add a sentence to here or a footnote to there, Mayanists are faced with a field where every turn of the spade yields material that is likely to keep them busy for decades. That is the exciting thing about Mayan studies; every year sees yet more exciting discoveries by both "dirt" archeologists and by "armchair" or more correctly "keyboard" scholars. Every new book on the Maya is welcome and if they are as well written and lavishly illustrated as this one, they are doubly welcome.

5 out of 5 stars

Hundreds of brilliant color plates and expert essays. March 7, 1999
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

I've read much of what has been written about Mayan ceramics and can say with confidence that this is the best book on the subject ever written. The essays in it, by top professionals, discuss the forms and functions of the ceramics, the meaning of their calligraphy, their basic themes and the places particular styles of ceramics come from. Indeed, if you read it carefully and more than once, you too will be able to decipher the principal inscriptions even on pots that are not in the book. There are hundreds of full-color photographs of Mayan ceramic vases and plates in this book. These vases are decorated with pictures of formed the greatest Pre-Columbian civilization. These ceramics depict Mayan textile design, Mayan hair-dressing, Mayan head-dresses, Mayan ceramics (within the ceramic paintings), Mayan concepts of design and of the other worlds below this one. From them we learn of Mayan myth,Mayan ritual, Mayan daily life, and Mayan art. Leaving aside the great monumental art of sculpture and stucco that adorned major structures, leaving aside the structures themselves, and giving credit for a host of varieties of artistic representations ranging from the Tsimshian to the Moche... I think it is an absolute fact that the art that appears on Mayan ceramics is the best that America ever created prior to Columbus and arguably the best... period. This book discusses, describes, depicts and defends that incredible artistic legacy better than any other ever did.

5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful! December 4, 1997
8 out of 12 found this review helpful

This handsome book covers a wide range of Maya ceramic imagery, and is filled with stunning photographs. The imagery is also broken down by catagory, and is supplimented with explations of glyphs. The accessible text that explores the mythology, culture, iconography, and hieroglyphics on and related to the ceramics. The information is thorough without being overly specialized.

Copyright by CeramicsBookshop.com Cart powered by Amazon.com
All logos and trademarks on this site are property of their respective owners.
Industrial Ceramics and Pottery : Ceramics Books and Magazines