Pakal Head, Maya Replica in Terracotta, Mexico, 32 cm, 1970s/80s

Sculptural head modelled on the famous stucco portraits of K'inich Janaab' Pakal, who ruled the Maya city of Palenque in today's state of Chiapas from 615 to 683. The originals were discovered in 1952 during excavations led by Alberto Ruz Lhuillier beneath the sarcophagus in the Temple of the Inscriptions and rank among the best-known portraits of Classic Maya art. This replica was made of terracotta in Mexico, probably in the 1970s or 1980s. The base bears an impressed stamp in the form of a stylised glyph with the word “Mexico” beneath it. The small lettering inside the glyph cannot be read with certainty, so no specific workshop is named here.

The tall, backward-sweeping hairstyle is worked with fine incised lines like bundled maize leaves, a reference to the Maize God with whom the rulers of Palenque liked to be identified. A headband set with small modelled ornamental heads holds the hair, a rectangular ribbed hair ornament falls at one side, and round ear spools sit at the ears. The face, with its continuous line from forehead to nose, half-closed eyes and slightly parted lips, follows the idealised features of the original. The surface carries an earthy, brown and black clouded patina with a finely speckled texture; ochre-yellow pigment in the recesses picks out the incised details and gives the head the look of an excavated find.

On a sideboard, bookshelf or console the head makes a sculptural focal point and pairs well with mid-century furniture, natural materials and ethnographic objects. This is a decorative replica and not an archaeological original. The head measures 32 cm in height, 18 cm in width and 24 cm in depth and is in very good condition.