Maya* Chacmool figure, Photogravure, 7 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches
I forgot I had this. I unearthed it while digging through a box of ephemera, looking for old maps to cannibalize for collage. It was given to me by the director of the art museum when I was researching objects from their Precolumbian collection. The engraving is of a Chacmool excavated by Augustus Le Plongeon at Chichen Itza in 1875.
Chacmool are a type of Precolumbian stone figures thought to be associated with ritual sacrifice. They are found in Mesoamerica, and always take the form of a recumbent human with arms and legs drawn up and head facing to the side. The hands, which rest on the stomach, hold a vessel that would presumably contain sacrificial offerings.
Chacmool excavated by Augustus Le Plongeon (1825-1908) from the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, 1875
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* The print says Aztec, but it’s a Maya figure from a Maya site
red paper boat 