An article of luxury maya

What you’re seeing in the image is nothing more and nothing less than a luxury item maya.

It is a pendant made of shell, polished, and carved. The scene presents us with a seemingly supernatural, lying on his torso, with grounds water on the left side, and holding a flower of four petals (the symbol of the four cardinal points) on the right side.

The shells had a symbolic significance for its association with the water and the sea, and, by extension, to fertility and the underworld. It was used to produce various types of ornaments for persons of very high rank.

Due to how difficult it was to get them and to transport them, they were considered an object of luxury.

The piece is part of the room Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas of the @metmuseum