Maya Jaguar Priest

Wearing an ornate headdress with quetzal plumes, a Maya priest speaks, his words represented by speech glyphs. An oceotl or jaguar crowns the man, also speaking. The fierce spotted cat was thought to have sacred powers and, in the language of the Chol Maya, the name balam means both 'jaguar' and 'priest.' The feline was believed to be the cause of both the lunar and solar eclipse, which resulted when the jaguar bit into the moon or the sun.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association work in yellow clay from Oaxaca, colored with mineral tints.