Images of Nobles

These three objects are similar because they all feature images of people. Why would a Maya vessel, an Islamic bowl, and a Byzantine chalice put images of people into the decoration? Taking a closer look at the figures should help unpack some of the meaning behind the images.

The Maya vessel contains a painting of a noble and a hieroglyphic reference to the name “Baje Kaan Took’,” who was presumably the owner of the vessel. Nobles are something of a blind spot in Maya archaeology because there were so few records of them left behind. Most of what archaeologists know about individual people comes from large stone monuments, nearly all of which described kings and rulers. Nobles appear in these monuments and in murals in a secondary role, usually either physically supporting the king by crouching under him or located in a less prestigious position in the monument, such as below or to the left. In an effort to show off status and try to gain a court position, Maya nobles competed with each other in the acquisition of prestige goods. One such prestige good was pottery, especially serving vessels like this one.

The Islamic lustre bowl is decorated with a picture of a man sitting in a position incredibly similar the man on the Maya vessel. This bowl comes from Samarra, which was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate for a short time in the 9th century. Thus, it would have been the site where nobles congregated and presumably displayed their wealth. This bowl was presumably used as a serving vessel and the figure on it is holding a branch in one hand and a cup in the other. There is a small inscription on the foot of the man that reads, “Blessing” in Arabic. It’s not entirely clear who the person on the vessel is, or if it is meant to represent a type of person, but there are several other examples of lustreware with images of people on them. They could have been for decoration or they could have been idealized representations of nobles.

The chalices from the Attarouthi Treasure contain images of saints, recognizable by their ornate robes and halos. These objects were given as a tribute to churches from the locals in Byzantium and so their decorations function as an example of the ideal. Perhaps they served to remind commoners how to behave or perhaps they were intended to inspire awe. Or maybe they were intended to show off the prestige of the owner of the chalices.

The three items run the gamut of possible depictions of humans on serving vessels. There is a representation of a Maya noble, a depiction of a Christian Saint, and a stylized representation of a human that could be somewhere in between the two.