Library Of Congress
MyLOC

 
Exploring the Early Americas The Jay I. Kislak Collection
Vase with Lords in the Mouths of Serpents (33.7)

Guatemalan Lowlands. Maya, AD 600–900.
Polychrome ceramic.
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (33.7) 
Photo ©Justin Kerr, Kerr Associates

Vase with Lords in the Mouths of Serpents 

One Maya depiction of the Underworld is of a great serpent with an open mouth. On this vessel, the serpent’s head rests on a skull, and a lord, wearing a flower headdress, sits in the serpent’s open jaws. This indicates that the lord is dead and has arrived in the Underworld.