Incense Burner
Unknown Artist
600–1000
Medium
pottery
Dimensions
16.3 × 25.5 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Harley Lee
Accession Number
1991.211.a
About this artwork
According to the Popol Vuh, a sixteenth-century Quiché Maya manuscript, the world has been created and destroyed twice, and we now live in the third creation. In the second creation, human beings were made from wood and reeds. They lacked souls and minds, and they did not revere their creator. Because of these imperfections, most were killed by an uprising of utensils and domestic animals. Monkeys are the descendents of the survivors.