Tikal Burial 196 Tomb of the Jade Jaguar - Maya Archaeology

The Fat Man
169
Kneeling in front of the throne and shown in profile is
a person exceptional in his obesity. He wears a simple, un-
decorated white loincloth, a simple earplug without pendants
and an uncluttered headdress. The earplug and the feathers
issuing from the back of the headdress are painted grey as
are those on the dancing-man vessel. Evidently, the Mayan
painter did not have green paint readily available, because
these are clearly meant to be green jade and green feathers.
The single upturned feather is similar to the method of depiction
employed on the other figure-painted pots from this
burial, as is the main element of the headdress. The figure
has white pupil-less eyes. His potentially meaningful gesture
and distinctive facial characteristics are of interest.
Something present on this vessel and not on the others
from this burial is the treatment of the head and shoulders,
painted as they are in red with the rest of the body left the
color of the orange background. On one of the Bu. 116 vessels
this appears to be some sort of mantle of light cloth (Coe,
1965, p. 42); or, it may be body paint.
The Figure on the Throne
In profile, seated on the rear half of the throne, is a
man with an outstretched hand “receiving” an offering, probably
of corn, in front of him. He wears a very plain, black
loincloth and a plain bonnet-like headdress with three