SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Bureau of American Ethnology

Bulletin 151

Anthropological Papers, No. 34

The Water

Lily in

Maya

Art:

Complex

of Alleged

Asiatic Origin

By

ROBERT

L.

RANDS

75

CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction
Floral forms in

Maya

79
80
80
84
92
97
100
102
102
103
104
106
107
108
110
113
113
114
117
120
122
146
149
150

art

General considerations
Water-lily leaf

Flower types
Flower elements
Stem and root

Mythic associations

of probable water lilies

General considerations
Hands or arms; figures amidst plant
Head or forehead

Eyes

Mouth
Miscellaneous associations

Glyphic associations of probable water

lilies

Areal and chronological trends

Over-all type...

Mythic associations
Resemblances to the lotus
Summarj'^ and conclusions
Notes on the tables
Sources of entries (table
Sources of illustrations
Literature cited

in Indian art

1)

ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
1.

a,

Amaravati, India,

b, c,

Palenque (Entries

(Entries 25, 26)

2.

a,

78, 77).

__

Quirigua (Entry 104).

b,

Copan (Entry

d,

Chichen Itza
85

._
50).

c,

Chama

(Entry 204).

Chichen Itza (Entries 22, 28). /, Yaxchilan (Entry 152)

Santa Rita (Entry 121). b, c, Tulum (Entries 129, 131). d, Yucatan
(Entry 221). e, Chichen Itza (Entry 23). /, Quirigua (Entry 118).
h, Dresden Codex (Entry 301).
i, Tikal
g, Palenque (Entry 76).
(Entry 124)
_
a, b, Palenque (Entries 69, 91).
d, Yucatan
c, Copan (Entry 44).
(Entries 219, 220). 'e, Chichen^Itza (Monjas). /, Rio Hondo (Entry
214).
g-, Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211)
a, i, Chichen Itza (Entries 35, 29).
c, h,
b, Rio Hondo (Entry 215).
Palenque (Entries 71, 73). d, Quirigua (Entry 117). e, Chajcar
(Entry 208). /, g, Chama (Entries 203, 201)
a, Quirigua (Entry HI),
b, Copan (Entry 53).
c, Dresden Codex
(Entry 310). d, La Amelia (Entry 63). e, Vase (Entry 222). /,
Palenque (Entry 70)
g, h, Chichen Itza (Entries 27, 24)
d, e,

3.

4.

5.

6.

86

a,

77

87

88

89

90

THE WATER LILY IN MAYA ART: A COAIPLEX OF

ALLEGED ASIATIC ORIGIN

By Robert

L.

Rands

INTRODUCTION
Prominent among the art forms presented by Heine-Geldern and
in their highly suggestive paper on pre-Columbian transPacific contacts are the lotus motif of Southeast Asia and the water
lily of the Maya.^
A number of specific resemblances in the depiction
plants
are
cited.
Broad temporal generalizations are made
of the
about the occurrence of the plants in the art of the two areas. The
transmission of the lotus motif to Middle America is held to have
taken place between A. D. 100 and 600, at the latest by the middle
of the Classic Period, at which time it is known to occur in Maya
art.
Contacts are said to have been either intensified or renewed at
the close of the Classic and the beginning of the Mexican Periods.
It is only on this late time level, in Mexican Period art at the site of
Chichen Itza, that the authors cite resemblances to the lotus in
Asiatic art.
The Hindu-Buddhist depictions of the lotus to which

Ekholm

comparisons are made are likewise largely confined to a single site,

Amaravati. Although this southeastern Indian site dates from the
second century A. D., the existence of similar art forms on perishable

wooden objects is postulated

Indo-China, and Indonesia.

for a later period in the

Malay

Peninsula,

It is not the primary purpose of the present study to continue this

comparative approach. Even comparisons with floral designs elsewhere in Middle America will not be attempted, and any telling
evaluation of the complex matter of possible Asiatic affiliations must

The

writer wishes to express his appreciation to Miss Tatiana Proskouriakoff, the Division of

Washington, and Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, American Museum

Natural History, lor their advice and suggestions. Most of the illustrations and much work on the
tables were done by the writer's wife, Barbara C. Rands.
' Heine-Oeldern, R., and Ekholm, G. F., 1951.
These writers, although giving special emphasis to the
water lily, discuss some fifteen to twenty additional traits common to Middle America and Southeastern
Asia. Their paper, read at the 29th International Congress of Americanists, was supplemented by a special
exhibit, "Across the Pacific," at the American Museum of Natural History.
(Cf. Ekholm, 1950.)
Archa'.'ology of the Carnegie Institution of

of

79

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

80
obviously be

made

[Bull. 151

against such a background.^

Also to be considered
but not touched on here, are the
occurrences of similar floral motifs in portions of the Old World
other than Southeast Asia (cf. Hamlin, 1916-23). Only Maya representations of the water lily will be analyzed in detail, in part with a
view toward a better understanding of intersite relationships in the
realm of religious design. Distributional and stylistic occurrences of
water-lily-like plants will be noted, as well as the symbolic associations which characterize these art forms. It is apparent, however,
that the material has a direct bearing on the problems raised by HeineGeldern and Ekholm. This is especially true inasmuch as several of
the highly arbitrary associations taken on by the water lily in Maya
art are also present in Hindu-Buddhist representations of the lotus.
in a truly exhaustive investigation,

FLORAL FORMS IN MAYA ART

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

To understand the place of the water lily in Maya art, it is first

necessary to find criteria for identifying the plant. This has been
done, in part, by previous workers. Maudslay (1889-1902, vol. 4,
pp. 37-38), and after

and Lothrop

him such

writers as Spinden (1913, pp. 18-20)

have gathered examples of what has

been termed the **fish and water-plant motif" a flower at which
fish is apparently nibbling.
A few designs, patently similar but lacking the fish, have been tacitly considered to be water plants (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pi. 93-^, h,in; Spinden, 1913, figs. 2a-c, 4).
Two or three atypical designs, to which, however, the mouth of the
fish is placed, have been included in the group (Spinden, 1913, fig. 36,
Maudslay, while granting the resemblance of the group to the
e,f).
water lily, prefers the more noncommittal designation of "waterplant" (1889-1902, vol. 4, p. 37). Spinden speaks on several occasions of water-lily-like plants or of apparent water lilies. In his words,
''Examples of the fish and water-plant design present much stronger
proof of culture afiinity among the cities where they occur than do the
simple water-plant forms, for designs analogous to the latter are
universal, whereas the association of fish and flower is very unusual"
(1926, pp. 159-162),

(Spinden, 1913, p. 18).

Whether or not these "analogous" designs represent the water
plant is a problem of no easy solution. Resemblances to the flower

few words of exception must be

made in the case of the frescoes of Tepantitia at Teotihuacan.

mouth of the

repeated, standardized motifs, water-lily-like flowers and leaves emerge from the

Here, in
rain god,

In this respect, as in others, the Tepantitia designs compare not only with Maya representations
lily but with Indian examples, as well. Correspondences of Teotihuacan floral art with that of
the Maya are reenforced by a stela carving from the site of Copan, which shows a tripartite design, sugges-

Tlaloc.
of the

water

mouth of a Tlaloc head (see

In view of such close relationships within Mesoamerica, the arbitrary scope of the
present study, and the impossibility of basing definite conclusions on it, are apparent.
tively similar to the Tepantitia flower-and-lcaf motif, placed identically at the

Entry 49a

of table 1).

NO ^34?'^'

^^^'

WATER

LILT IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

81

the large, showy, white water lily of the Maya,

varying degrees in a large number of designs. It is possible,
as Maudslay indicates, that the water lily is the only flower depicted
Nevertheless, the
in Maya art (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, p. 37).
characteristics actually shared by flowers of various kinds may have
Either the
led to a little-differentiated treatment of these flowers.
portrayal of a generalized flower, without any intention in the mind
of the artist as to the type, or the portrayal of specific types which
were so modified by artistic canons that their diagnostic features were
of

Nymphaea ampla,

exist to

lacking,

The

might have been the

rule.

identification of art forms as flowers tends, except for highly

conventionalized designs, to be a fairly simple task.

over-all impression frequently well conveyed,

Not only

is

the

but a number of design

elements appear to represent conventionalizations of parts of the

For the most part these standardizations correspond well to
the anatomical parts of the water lily, although certain of them might
apply equally to other types of flowers. Thus, lines at the flower's
top seemingly depict petals, two or three bands enclosing the central
flower.

hidden by the
may well be indicated by
or dots.

portion of the flower are probable sepals, and stamens

lines
viewed from
this
is
given
below in a
discussion
of
type
of
evidence
A more extended
Occasionally, however,
classification of floral forms in Maya art.
rounded tufts of feathers or down may be confused with the petals of
a flower. Ends of the long bones may also be conventionalized in
such a way as to approach certain styhzations of the flower. These
deviant occurrences are rare, however, and as a preliminary approach
to the problem of the water lily it is possible to isolate a large number of floral forms. This has been done in table 1.
For the most part, these flowers segregate into standardized types.
These categories are based on combinations of the over-all shape with
Additional elements tend to
certain elements of the sort just cited.
unite the group. Two or three of the types appear as the food of fish
Their occurrence in other situin the fish and water-plant motif.

petals

the side

if

ations suggests that the

same plant

is

intended.

Occasionally more

than one category of flower appears on a single stalk or creeper. This

would seem to imply that more than one way of depicting a single kind
of flower existed, but it may mean instead that various sorts of flowers,
water lilies and nonwater lilies, were grouped together into a composite
entity.
A corollary of this would be that different artistic types
represent different kinds of flowers. Yet again, many of these differences

may

indicate different stages in the imfolding of the flower, or

may sometimes be shown.

Apparently more diagnostic than the flower, the water-lily leaf is
The notched, unevenly
characteristically treated in Maya art.

different portions of the plant

82

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

surfaced leaf of

Nymphaea ampla seems

[Bull. 151

to be recaptured in a cross-

hachui'ed design that sometimes accompanies flowers and stalks.

It occurs in connection

with the

fish

and water-plant motif, with

and water-plant motif,

flowers of the type that appears in the fish

and with flowers

of different types.

feeling that there

is

many

floral

It offers strong support to the

at least an ingredient of the water

designs in

Maya

lily in

a great

art.

Striking featui-es recur in the stalks of plants that are present with

the fish and water-plant motif, the probable water-lily

ers of the types that

commonly appear

in the fish

leaf, and flowand water-plant

The

stalk takes on a scrolled, often vinelike or creeperlike

Panels and panel variations occur. The same characteristics appear again in connection with additional categories of flowers,
suggesting that the same plant is portrayed. If these plants actually
are not the same, surely they have imbibed strongly of the same artis-

motif.

quality.

tic tradition!

The presence
panel

is

of stems or vines

worked

into a scrolled or undulating

especially important insofar as the present study bears on the

problem of trans-Pacific contacts. For, as pointed out by HeineGeldern and Ekholm, the same unnatural treatment is prominent
in Hindu-Buddhist depictions of the lotus.
Therefore, if nonwater
plants are given this treatment in Maya art, they may provide
a prototype or artistically related form and cannot be ignored. Stalks
of this sort, without accompanying flowers or leaves, are accordingly
included in table 1.
It is apparent, then, that while there may be no clear-cut answer to
the question of the identification of the water lily, many art forms
share features which suggest that they are possible water lilies. These
linking features are not merely artistic but consist of the symbolic
situations in which the plants occur
the mythic beings they contact
and the anatomical portions of the beings from which they emerge.
This being the case, the study of the water lily must be extended to
include plant forms which share this complex. Conceivably, if the
complex is shared by plants other than the water lily, it could have
originated with the water lily or with some other plant and spread to
flowering plants in general, or it could have grown up around undifferentiated plant life.
It is the writer's belief, however, that waterlily plants form the central core of the complex, perhaps, in some cases,
in conjunction with the maize plant. "WTiether or not this is true may
be of importance so far as the details of Maya religious symbolism are
concerned but would not appear to bear too importantly on the problem of intersite connections. Nor is it of fundamental importance to
the problem of connections with the lotus in Indian art. The case for
such connections is based largely upon the similarities in art form and
lily

ANTHROP.PAP.

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

83

the highly arbitrary nature of the plant's associations. The artistic

resemblances are just as great and the associations as arbitrary
whether the water lily or some other plant happens to be depicted in
a given instance.

Based on these considerations, floral and stem forms that occur in

sculptures and murals have been gathered together without

Maya

implication that the water

lily is necessarily depicted (table 1).

The
compilation of these representations cannot claim to be exhaustive,
but, subject to the occasional error of misclassification that is inherent
in working with a complex art form and with sometimes badly eroded

and poorly
goal.

probably begins to approach that

forms in the glyphs is incomplete. Unnot included. Likewise omitted are certain

illustrated material, it

Compilation of

published material

is

floral

forms lacking any of the associations characteristic of the "water lily"

complex. Especially to be noted in this connection is the wealth of
floral designs at Chichen Itza, particularly at the Temple of the
Xtoloc Cenote (Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 108c). A middle course
has been followed in the tabulation of stylized or flamboyantly treated
designs which have definite floral attributes. Some leeway is given,
although the more conventionalized ones have been passed by. Untabulated, too, are certain treelike forms and probable maize plants
which share an important characteristic of the complex, viz, growth
from the head of a mythic being.
Comparative material from ceramic and codex art is also tabulated.
These data are not to be considered as necessarily representative, however, for only floral or stem forms having artistic or associational
features of special interest are included.

The

especially rich in untabulated floral designs.

figure painted vases are

Thus, a vessel for which

1 flower is tabulated also displays 16 additional flowers worn in

the headdresses of the 5 pictured figures (Entry 213 of table 1)!

only

It seems probable that some non water lilies are included in table 1,
and ratings of A and B are given as an indication of the relative likelihood that a given depiction was intended as a water lily. Although

these ratings are impressionistically arrived at, they take

mto

eration such factors as the resemblance to an actual water

degree of stylization (which,

if

great,

consid-

lily,

the

might suggest that the motif

was employed without especial consideration for its original concept),

the associations of the plant form (which may build into a number of
crosscutting complexes, some of a highly specific order), the resemblance to other flower representations which enter into such complexes, and the indistinctness of the sculpture or illustration.
To
some extent, then, the ratings reflect not only whether the representation is a water lily but to what extent the concept of the water lily
was probably present. The ratings are arbitrary in that they repre-

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

84

[Bull. 151

sent no real clustering into distinct levels, and the device of minus
signs has in some cases been employed to further subdivide the

category.

WATER-LILY LEAF

The

one of the most characteristic

Maudslay especially noted
the water-lily-like appearance of the leaves on his so-called "waterplants" from Palenque (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, p. 37). Comparison of these forms with Nymphaea ampla reveal striking likenesses, in spite of an impressionistic treatment (cf. Lundell, 1937, pis.
Maya treatment of the water-lily leaf typically takes the form
9, 12).
of some combination of the following conventionalizations:
leaf, as

has been indicated,

features of the water lily in

Maya

is

art.

Elements of Maya Treatment of the Water-lilt Leaf

An irregular, sometimes wavy crosshachure suggests the roughened

o.
appearance of the water-lily pad (figs, lb, 3/).
Element b. Crosshachure occurs but is of a regular, even type (fig. 3c).
Element c. Dots occur within the crosshachures, adding, perhaps, to the roughened appearance of the design (figs. 1&, 3/, g).
Elem^ent d.
A solid block of dots marks the surface of the leaf (Ruppert and Den-

Element

ison, 1943, fig. 51c).

Element

Crossed bands form the interior marking (fig. 2d).

outline of the leaf is notched or serrated, deeply (fig. 6rf) to lightlb).
The occurrence of squarish protuberances is characteristic (figs.

e.

Element/.
ly

(fig.

The

2d, 3g, eg).

Element

g.

profile,

Ideally, a raised band outlines the margin of the leaf.

Viewed in
the edge of the leaf flares upward and outward, with or without a

band resulting (figs. 6c, d, Ic). Or raised bands only may occur (fig.
Regarded as a variant of the ideal form, an unraised band separates
an area of interior marking from the edge of the leaf (fig. 4a)
Element h. An apparentlj' raised band, more narrow, regular, and rounded than
in g, occurs toward the interior of the leaf (figs. 4a, 5e, Qg).
Element i. A row of dots outlines the margin of the leaf (Lothrop, 1924, pi. 7).
Element j. Inner markings at the center of the leaf pass outward to the margin
distinct
3.0 .

marginal band) (figs. 16, 3f-h).

k.
The markings are restricted to an area well toward the center of
the leaf. This area would seem to correspond to that of Element h (fig. 66).
Element I. Aside from bands, no interior markings appear (figs. 4a, 5e).
Element m. Angular, notchlike elements, resembling a slightly curved V, pass
outward. They may lead outward from a marginal band into the protuberances of the leaf as semi-independent entities ffig. Ic). The marginal band
may assume this shape as it juts outward, following the contours of the leaf
(fig. 16).
Interior markings may take on this form (fig. 36).
As a probable
variant, small straight lines pass outward into the marginal band in the same
way but lack the V-shape (figs. 3^, 6c)
The relationship of this set of closely
related forms to Element / is intimate.
(or

Element

ANTHKOP. Pap.
NO. 34]

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

85


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

86

[Bum.. 151

erj

%=

Figure

2.

204).

a,

Quirigua (Entry 104).

d, e,

b,

Copan (Entry

Chichen Itza (Entries 22, 28).

/,

50).

c,

Chama

Yaxchilan (Entry 152).

(Entry

Anthrop. Pap.
No. 34]

WATER

LILY IN

FiGURK 3. o, Santa Rita (Entry

121).

MATA ART

b, c,

RANDS

Tulum

(Entries 129, 131).

87

d,

Yu-

catan (Entry 221). e, Chichen Itza (Entry 23). /, Quirigua (Entry 118).
i, Tikal (Entry 124).
h, Dresden Codex (Entry 301).
g, Palenque (Entry 76).

90987153


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

88

Palenque (Entries 69, 91). c, Copan (Entry 44). d, Yucatan

e, Chichen Itza (Monjas).
/, Rio Hondo (Entry 214).
Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211).

Figure

4.

a, b,

(Entries 219, 220).

g,

[Bull. 151

no!'

34]^'^^^'

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

BRANDS

89

^o
3

cr CO

"5 00

c
O

o
(M

+a

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

90

Figure 6. a, Quirigua (Entry 111),

(Entry 310). d, La Amelia (Entry
(Entry 70).

g, h,

b,

Copan (Entry

63).

e,

[Boll. 151

c, Dresden Codex
53).
Vase (Entry 222). /, Palenque

Chichen Itza (Entries 27, 24).

'^^^

No.''34?^

Some

WATER

LILY

EST

MAYA ART

RANDS

91

bands and marginal

wide occurrence in Classic Maya art, while
crossed bands also occur widely. Other elements, such as the notchlike
of these elements, such as raised marginal

dots, are stylistic traits of

forms, are

more

The occurrence

distinctive.

of dots in

wavy

cross-

unusual combination, but recurs in representations of

the turtle shell (fig. 2d, and pp. 17a, 70b, 71a, 72b of the Madrid
Codex). The leaf outline tends to be squarish to rectangular and is
marked, as noted, with serrations and bumpy protuberances. The
over-all configuration, caused by repeated appearance of the enumerated elements with this distinctive outline, stands out sharply in Maya
art.
Its unique quality is underscored by its almost universal
association with floral forms;
The occurrence of the artistic elements a through m is summarized,
according to site, in table 2. Numerals refer to the number of waterlily leaves having a given trait.
The large number of elements present
at Palenque reflects the unusual number of representations depicting
leaves at that site. Furthermore, Palenque, more than any other site,
seems to possess these traits in their most "ideal" form. That is, for
such traits as elements m, a, and perhaps c and/, the Palenque delineation seems either to represent a central trend around which the other
sites tend to vary in different directions, or else the variation within
one of these other sites points to less standardization than at Palenque
in regard to these elements.
The point is a vague but suggestive one.
It may mean either that Palenque seized on certain generalized artistic
hachure'

is

|an

attributes of the water-lily leaf

in its

own

dis-

tinctive

inspiration

and

and elaborated them

ways or that Palenque was actually a source of

diffusion for these particular treatments.

Two

may be recognized. One comprises

Palenque examples (Entries 68, 76, 77, 78 in table 1,* figs. 16,
c, Zg).
One of the Quirigua leaves (Entry 118, fig. 3/) compares notably in interior marking but varies in shape. The other group, to be
discussed below in connection with the Over-all Type lie, occurs at
Bonampak, Chajcar, Calakmul, Ixkun, La Amelia, La Mar, Palenque,
Quirigua, Yaxchilan, and perhaps in the Dresden Codex. As indicated, transitional features are numerous and the entire body of
most

types of water-lily leaves

of the

representations quite standardized.

No

Early Period representations of the water-lily leaf are definitely

to occur.
The leaf appears in House C, Palenque, as glyphs
in the inscribed stairway, forming part of a 9.8.9.13.0 Initial Series, and
recurs as a stucco decoration on the inner wall of the West Corridor
(Entries 68, 69, fig. 4a). While this suggests a rather early presence
of the motif, the dating of Palenque is far from securely placed, and
it is probable that these representations are considerably^ later.
The

known

Sinne

all

Entry numbers are from table

1,

future references to soeclfic Entries will omit table number.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

92

[Bull. 151

chronological position of other water lily forms at Palenque

One

unsure.

Negras (Entry

95), bearing

on Stela

is

likewise

Piedras
a probable 9.14.15.0.0 inscription.

of the earlier water-lily leaves

is

8,

FLOWER TYPES
Contrasting somewhat with the standardization of the water lily
a great diversity exists in the representation of the floral forms
included in the tables. As suggested above, this may imply that nonwater lilies have been included. However, even the flowers united
by the fish and water-plant motif display marked variation.
In considering the water-lily flower, 18 types, A through R, are
Portions of the plant other than flowers may be included
recognized.
in a few instances.
The types fall into five major groupings. The
latter are based on whether or not the flower is shown in profile (the
almost universal rule) and on the presence or absence of petals and
sepals.
The types are more specific and more finely calibrated than
the groups.
leaf,

Groups and Types

Group

of

Maya Treatment

of the

Flower

Both petals and sepals are indicated; the flower is in profile.

Type A. The form of the flower's top tends to be rounded to subtriangular in
shape and occasionally takes on a slightly ma^nmiform appearance. Zoning of
the interior, which perhaps indicates stamens, is largely confined to this type (fig.
I.

16, d).

The

is more widely opened than in Type A.

Top and base are
The width is great, the height small (fig. 2d).
Type C. Unlike the other categories in Group I, the flower flares out widely
toward the top, which is gently roimded. The form is highly symmetric and

Type B.

flower

essentially flat.

Sepals tend to taper toward the end; petals may terminate just
short of the top, a crescent of marginal dots resulting (fig. 5a).
Type D. As in Type B, the flower has a flattish base and top, but it is elonstandardized.

its width.
In this it would correspond more
nearly to Types A and C (fig. be).
Type E. As in Type B, the flower tends to be flattish and squat, but it is probI'
ably the most distinctive of the types comprising Group I. Two qualities set it

gated, being long in comparison to

One is its greatly thickened sepal. The second is its asymmetry, for not
only does a thick sepal pair off with a narrow one, but the stem tends to be attached
at a corner of the flower, rather than being placed beneath its center (fig. 66).
Flowers showing just one of these traits are regarded as variants of the type (fig.
6d).
In pure form the type often is further characterized by the occurrence of a
row of marginal dots (of. Type C) and by a serration of the edge of the thickened
sepal in the way characteristic of water lily leaves.
Group II. Sepals but not petals are definitely indicated; the flower is in profile.
Type F. A wavy to jagged outline, enclosed by the sepals, gives a suggestion of
petals.
To this extent, the type seems transitional to Group I (fig. bd).
Type G. A shallow central area, probably indicating undifferentiated petals,
is set between sepals (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pi. 14, No. 13).
Type H. A rather wide, swollen central element rises beyond the enclosing
sepals.
Frequently this central element is of mammiform shape (figs. 4e, bg).
apart.

No."^

34?^'

'^^^'

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

93

Apparently the central element usually represents undiflFerentiated petals, but its
upward-jutting tip may sometimes indicate the rise of a third sepal. This interpretation would not be favored by the close resemblances to the mammiform
but sepalless Type M. Type H, furthermore, tends toward uniformity.
Type I. A number of forms are subsumed under this catch-all heading. They
have in common the feature of a central element not well differentiated from the
two enclosing outer ones. In this they contrast with Type H, where the distinction between inner and outer elements is well marked.
The inner element of Type
I flowers is characteristically narrow.
The partial unfolding of a flower may be
indicated.
In its frequently jagged appearance, the type seems transitional to
Group III flowers, especially to Type J. Sometimes a fleur-de-lis shape is approached (fig. 5c).

Group
Type

Petals

III,

The

J.

and sepals are undifferentiated; the flower

flower

outspread.

Straight lines

in profile.

is

may

separate the petals or

sepals (fig. 2c), semu-independent bands, rounded at the end, may be shown (fig.
Especially in the former case, the flaring shape and slightly rounded top
2e).
compare suggestively with Type C flowers.
is

Type K. Unlike Type J, the flower is unflaring and straight in

petal or sepal lines, which tend toward shortness, are straight.
usually great in comparison to the width

(fig.

An

36).

The
The length is

its lines.

angular type of basal zon-

ing, consisting of parallel horizontal lines, frequently occurs.

Type

The flower is partially outspread; rounded and v/aved petal or sepal

To some extent the type is transitional to J and K; it has analogies

L.

lines occur.

Type F but lacks definite sepal bands (fig. 6c).

Group IV. Neither petals nor sepals are indicated, and these absences suggest
that a leaf or pod rather than flower is indicated.
Unoi^ened buds may be represented in some cases. Depiction is in profile.
Tijpe M.
The shape is mammiform, thereby corresponding to Type H flowers,
but enclosing sepals are absent (figs. 4c, 6/). An unopened bud may be indicated,
to

or perhaps a leaf.

The design

is leaf -shaped (figs. Si, 4g)

Together with Type
repoccurs on possible trees in the Maya codices (Dresden, 27ff). A
design on a vase from the Rio Hondo (Entry 215, fig. 5b) suggests, however, that
the form may also depict an unopened bud.
Here a Type N object is attached to

Type N.

resentations,

it

a curving stem. A second stem from the same source terminates in a similarly
shaped form, but in this case a cleft tip and interior m^arkings clearly indicate the
partial unfolding of the petals or sepals (fig. 56).
Gann identifies the objects as
water lily buds (Gann, 1918, p. 110).
Type 0. The design is elongate and paddle-shaped. An interior area, often
lonzenge-shaped, is frequently set off, and small lines run out to the margins (fig.
Id).

Type P. The design shows similarities to Type O but assumes a constricted

shape, small circles being enclosed in the wider portions of this highly elongate
form. A seed pod of some sort is suggested (fig. 3a).
Group V. The designs are not shown in profile.
Type Q. A composite flower seems indicated, as if viewed in part from the top
and partly from the side. Undifferentiated sepals or petals jut out from a circular or semicircular

Type R.

The

base

flower

(figs. 3c,
is

4a,

/, 6^, h)

viewed from the top.

Lines suggesting petals or sepals,

and sepals, radiate out-

or concentric rings of lines, suggestive of stamens, petals,

ward

(fig.

4e).

The Group

forms not only tend to be the most

realistic flowers

but

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

94

[Bull. 151

most frequently associated with the fish in the well-known

and water-plant motif. They offer, therefore, the best initial

are the ones

fish

basis for an identification of art forms as water

treatment of the flower alone.

Groups IV and V tend to be set
cific

off

lilies,

in terms of the

somewhat from the

others.

Spe-

features link several of their types to those in the other groups,

however. Type Q flowers with semicircular bases occur on stems in

connection with Type A flowers and flower-eating fish at Chichen Itza
(Entries 24, 27; fig. Qg, h).
Type Q flowers with circular bases but
otherwise of closely corresponding appearance also occur on Xultun
stelae (Entries 139, 140) and on a Rio Hondo bowl (Entry 214, fig. 4/).
In the latter case, mouths of fish are placed against the projecting
petals or sepals, tending independently to support the identification of
the form as a water lily. Analogous forms occur in the Tulum frescoes,
in connection with probable water lily leaves as well as with Type

and Type P seed pods.

Type P pods are not as directly

flowers

linlced

with Group

I, II,

or III

Types O and P occur,

however, on a twisted stem pictured in the Madrid Codex (Entry
The paddle-shaped Type O designs occur on one of the more
314).
siu-ely identified water-lily stems at Chichen Itza (Entry 25, fig. Id)
and recur on corresponding stems elsewhere at the site (Entries 28,
designs.

Forms apparently

transitional to

On

one of these stems (Entry 32), the similar but constricted

These forms seem definitely to be
associated with the same type of stem on which water lilies occur.
A Type N-shaped design, tabulated also as a water lily leaf, appears
on the same stalk as a Type P pod in the Santa Rita frescoes (Entry
An unopened leaf may be indicated, for the design in
121, fig. 3a).
question bears such characteristics of water lily leaves as dots in
connection with crosshachure.
Type
designs, of Group IV, bear close resemblances to the
mammiform but unsepaled Type
forms of Group II. These, in
32, 35).

Type P

seed pod also appears.

turn, are linked to the petaled

Group

by the

slightly

characterizes the latter

220,

fig.

4d).

and sepaled Type

A representations

mammiform appearance which

and by a design on a Yucatan

Two mammiform

flowers,

of

frequently

vessel (Entry

of closely corresponding

appearance, occur on a single knotted stem. One of the flowers lacks

and is therefore to be classified as Type H; the other, with a
few lines scratched in, is thereby Type A. In the same way, on the
Bonampak murals, where color sometimes differentiates petals from
sepals on the highly realistic water lilies, the filling in of petal lines
seems to be a somewhat inconsistent, almost whimsical, matter of
petals

choice (Entries 8-12).

The mammiform Type

M designs, while probably portraying buds

No.^ 34?^'

^"^^^

or leaves,

WATER
show

LILY IN

MAYA ART

certain resemblances to

RANDS

Maya

95

representations of

serpent rattles. This is particularly true in figure 6/ (Entry 70),

where the designs are so attached as to form a dangling, chainlike

Maler, 1901, pi. 18, No. 2; Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi.

Elsewhere, however, flowers lacking this rattlelike appearance
seem to be somewhat similarly attached (Entries 17, 151). The
representations of Entry 70 seem, moreover, to be examples of the
fish and water-plant motif, for the nibbling fish appear, their mouths
object

(cf.

139a).

designs.
placed against the Type
Occurrences of the Flower Types are summarized, according to
Numerals refer to the number of flowers. Chichen
site, in table 3.
Itza, with its vast array of flowers appealing in panels along the walls
Signifiof several structures, has a wide variety of floral categories.
cantly small totals for this site appear only in connection with the

and M. It
asymmetrical Type E and the mammiform Types
should be noted in this connection that the slightly mammiform
treatment of Type A flowers is fairly prominent at Chichen Itza, and
that Type A is of extremely heavy occurrence there. Type I, which
appears to be fairly closely related to Type H, is quite heavily
represented at Chichen Itza.
The Copan treatment is the most distinctive. Type E designs,
while partially paralleled at several sites, occur in "pure" form only
The nearby sites of Quirigua and Paraiso display variant
at Copan.
treatments, while others occur at Xultun, La Amelia, Seibal, and
perhaps Chichen Itza.
Other somewhat less notable trends exist according to site or region.
Quirigua stands somewhat apart in its relative emphasis of the wavytopped Type F flowers. The Usumacinta sites tend, in general,
toward Group II representations, but in this they follow the emphasis
Copan and Palenque have a virtual
of the Maya area as a whole.

monopoly

of the

mammiform Type

designs, except for certain

untabulated forms in the Dresden Codex. The generally reahstic

Type A flowers are of sporadic occurrence in the Maya area outside
northern Yucatan; the most noteworthy clusterings appear to be at
Palenque and Bonampak. A variant of Chichen Itza's flaring, highly
distinctive Type C flower occurs at Palenque (fig. Ic) more strikingly,
The
the form is duplicated in a single design at Chinkultic (Entry 43)
;

widely opened Type J flowers at Chichen Itza and Chama also display
surprising resemblances, considering the virtual absence of the form
elsewhere (cf. such Chichen Itza representations as Entry 40 with
Entry 204 and Gordon and Mason, 1925-43, vol. 1, pi. 2). Group
III flowers are almost exclusively confined to the northern Yucatan
sites, the codices, and Alta Verapaz pottery, being virtually nonexistent
in the Classic

Maya

sites of the

Central Region.

Chichen Itza also

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

96

[Bull. 151

shares with Tulum, Santa Rita, or the Madrid Codex such types of
low occurrence or limited distribution as P, Q, and R.
Unusual similarities in the depiction of a group of flowers from
separated regions are of considerable interest. Portrayals from the
northern Yucatan site of Xcalumkin compare, on the one hand,
with Yaxchilan (Entries 134a, 147) and on the other with a vase
from Nebaj in the Alta Verapaz (Entries 134b, 213). A variant
Type A design, which may, however, represent featherwork, compares
suggestively with this group (Entries 8 Id, 134b, 213).
For most of the sites, however, representations are too few to permit
much in the way of meaningful generalizations. Only those centers
well

known

for their stone carvings or

murals

offer

much

in the

way

of comparative material.

Petaled and sepaled Group I flowers occur rarely if ever prior to late
At Copan, for example, the highly standardized
Type E form appears only in 9.16.10.0.0, well along in a sequence of
Thereafter,
floral or leaf forms which dates back some ten katuns.
Classic Period times.

this

type dominates flower representations at the site. Type A

and Pied] as Negras may be the earliest of the

flowers at Palenque

Group

I designs.

It

is

of interest, accordingly, that a variant

representation, lacking the thickened sepal but sharing

metry,

its

Type
asym-

contours, and its row of dots along the outer edge

apparently occurs quite early on Stela 19, Xultun

its over-all

of the petals,

(Entry 136). Morlej'- tentatively assigns the monument on stylistic

grounds to the first quarter of Baktun 9 (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1,
p. 392).

and N designs, unsepaled and unpetaled, seem generally

have a chronological precedence. Leaflike Type N representations
occur on an Esperanza Period vase from Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211,
fig. 4/7), on Stela 1, Tikal, dated by Morley from "very early in Baktun

Type

to

9,

perhaps as early as 9.1.0.0.0" (Morley, 1937-38,

vol.

1,

p. 297;

Entry 124, fig. 3i), and on the Ball Court Marker at Chinkultic,
which bears a possibly contemporaneous 9.7.17.12.14 Initial Series
inscription (Entry 43).
It also precedes the Type E flowers at Copan,
occurring there perhaps in both Katuns 11 and 12 (Entries 48, 49).
The mammiform Type
designs seemingly occur somewhat earlier
than the N forms at Copan, in 9.6.10.0.0 and 9.10.15.0.0 (Entries 44,
The type reappears at Palenque on the piers of House A, which
45).
bears an Initial Series date of 9.8.16.15.13 but that is more probably

Katun 14 (Entry 70, fig. 6/; Proskouriakoff, 1950,

Perhaps there was a tendency in later times for the sepaled
Type H form to replace the unsepaled Type M.
Broad chronological trends in the development of floral art in the
Maya sculptures and murals may be postulated on the basis of the
to be placed in
p. 192).

No.^

34]^' ^*^*

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

BRANDS

97

and N flowers of Group IV category would

tabulated data. Type
appear to be of initial occurrence. Lacking sepals as well as petals,
they may actually represent leaves. Sepaled Group II flowers,

and I, eventually replaced them in popularity. Shortly

Group I petaled and sepaled flowers, which include the
most surely identified water lilies, appeared and gained in favor.
Their vogue lasted into the Mexican Period, as witnessed by numerous
especially

thereafter,

examples in the Ball Court complex but not in the sculpture of

supposedly later buildings at Chichen Itza (Tozzer, 1930; cf. ProsThe Dresden Codex, however, retained
kouriakoff, 1950, p. 171).
Not in
forms, many of which do not appear in the tables.
Type
profiJe and of limited occurrence. Group V types would seem to come
in during late Classic times and continue into subsequent Yucatecan
Finally, in Mexican Period times or later. Group III flowers
art.
(petals and sepals undifferentiated), as well as such divergent Group
II types as O and P, have almost their only known occurrences.

FLOWER ELEMENTS
Certain detailed elements marking the flower remain to be conSome of these elements, in conjunction with the over-all
shape of the flower, comprise the criteria upon which the flower types
Others are nondiagnostic. The elements
just discussed are based.
relate primarily to markings within the flower but in some cases
concern its shape or appendages. They are described in terms of the
structure of the flower, for in many cases it seems certain that they
are standardized conventionalizations of flower parts.
sidered.

Elements of the Maya Treatment of the Water-lily Flower

Element

a.

Petals are indicated

by

lines

quality of bands, causing slight to

(figs. 3e, 6e).

surface

(figs.

which occasionally have the semidistinct

marked

serrations at the flower's top

Usually, however, they merely rise to an essentially unbroken

Ib-d).
Lines may pass fully to the base of the flower or may

terminate sooner. In the latter case, something akin to the "zoning" of

Elements k through o results.
Element b. Two enclosing sepals are indicated by bands which flank the corolla
Considerable variation exists
or inner portion of the flower (figs. 2d, bg, h).
in the relative length and straightness of the sepals and in the angle at which
they pass outward from the base (figs. Id, 6d).
Element c. The general remarks made about Element b apply, but a third sepal
passes up the center of the flower (figs. 16, 3^, 5a).
Element d. Bands or lines pass to the flower's surface, but it is not clear whether
petals or sepals are intended (figs. 2c, e, 36).
Element e. The sepal is heavily thickened (fig. 66).
Element /. The stem enters the flower proper (figs. Bh, 4c, d)
Element g. At the flower's base, the top of a sepal band whose lower edge is flat
In appearance, the
juts upward into the flower proper (figs. 2a, 3d, 5d).

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

98

[Boll. 151

design seems transitional on the one hand to h and c tj'^pe sepal bands and
on the other to Elements h and i.
Element h. A band or line passes along the central axis of the flower, but, differentiated at its base from the flanking Element b sepals and the stem, it is

probably neither a third sepal nor an entering stem. A tentative identification

as the ovary (the enlarged basal portion of the pistil) is suggested (figs. 2a,
Variant forms, which may be sepals, occur (figs. Ic, 5e, 6e).
3e).
Element i. A row of dots or circles, or a single centrally placed dot, passes simiIn position it
larly along the central axis of the flower (figs. Zh, 4d, 5h).
corresponds to Element h and, like it, may have some connection with the
pistil.

Element j. Marginal dots or circles appear at the outer tips of the petals. Ideally,
the row of dots is unbroken and close-set (figs. 5a, e, 66)
Element k. A row of dots sets off a zone toward the base of the flower (figs. 1&,
Stamens or carpels may be indicated.
c, 3e).
Element I. Essentially vertical lines set off a zone toward the base of the flower
and, as previously suggested, may indicate the stamens (fig. 6h).
Element m. Crosshachure sets off a zone toward the base of the flower (figs. 3c?,
This zoning may have conventional significance of the sort suggested
e, 6e).
for the preceding elements.
The interpretation is especially favored by a
probable water lily, depicted on a gold plaque from the Sacred Cenote at
Chichen Itza, which displays crosshachure in the interior area where stamens
would occur (Willard, 1926, p. 129).
Element n. Semicircular lines or differences in coloring set off an area toward
the base

Element

(figs. 16, c).

horizontal lines crosscut the flower, occurring mostly

although not exclusively toward the base. This element occurs principally
with Flower Type K,
Element p. An enclosed inner area is marked off, sometimes paralleling the shape
Upper as
of the flower and sometimes differing from it (figs. 2a, 36, 4c).
well as lower portions of the flower are subject to this marking.
Element q. The flower takes on a mammiform shape, this usually being the form
of the top but also known to be the shape of inner Element p (figs. 4e, 2a).
The mammiform quality may be subtly suggested by the contour of the
individual petals (fig. 6/i), developed (fig. 4c) or exaggerated (fig. 5g).
Element r. The stem swells slightly, then depresses, just prior to its juncture
with the flower. The more realistic treatments of this phenomenon, which
occurs on water lilies, are not tabulated, but exaggerated instances of it,
which presumably go back to this prototype in nature, are regarded as the
element (fig. 26; cf. Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pi. 26, No. 4; Palacios,
1937a, fig. 40.
Element s. Small scrolls or a roughened, knobby treatment occur at the place of
juncture between stem and flower (fig. Ic).
Element t. Scrolled, sepallike elements occur at or near the base of the flower.
The symmetrical placing of two highly curved elements below the main sepals
is regarded as the "pure" form of this element (fig. Id, 3e, 6h).
Element u. A somewhat similar effect is gained by the loose, dangling end of a
knotted stem (fig. 66). Although perhaps fortuitous, the resemblance to
o.

Straight,

Element t is striking.
Element v. Plumes pass outward from the flower, thus assuming somewhat the
position of the fish in the fish and water-plant motif (fig. Id).

An

additional artistic feature of

some importance

is

not, unfortu-

No.^

84?'^'

^^'^^

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

99

made the special subject of tabulation. It consists of a long,

frequently curving element which extends beyond the central part
nately,

of the corolla.

Sepallike, it often results in a questioned tabulation of

two or three sepals. Often an exaggeration of the mammiform

Element 2 is suggested. Yet, notwithstanding considerable variation
in treatment, the element has a quality of its own (figs. 2/, 3d, 4d, 5e).
As revealed in table 4, an unusually large number of flower elements
occur at Chichen Itza, Palenque, Copan, and Quirigua. Of the 22
elements, only 2 or 3 are absent from Chichen Itza. One of these.
Element i (a row of dots along the center of the flower), is a rather
striking omission, in view of its widespread occurrence in the Maya
area as a whole. Chichen Itza emphasizes two- rather than threesepaled flowers (Element b) and, correlating with its large number of
Group III flower types, has a heavy occurrence of undifferentiated
More than 50 percent of the tabulated
petals and sepals (Element d)
flowers having petals occur at this one site (Element a)
Sepal scrolls
(Element t) are largely confined to Chichen Itza. The mammiform
Element g is of unusually high occurrence at Palenque. The thickened sepal (Element e) and the loose end of a knotted stem (Element
No single element stands out at
u) are characteristic of Copan.
Quirigua. Instead the site seems cosmopolitan, sampling widely and
not greatly emphasizing any particular approach.
either

Some

shared to a seemingly significant degree by only

The various elements of basal zoning {k through
0) are unusually developed at Chichen Itza, Palenque, and in the
Alta Verapaz. Elements k and n (basal dots, curved basal lines)
provide special correspondences between Chichen Itza and Palenque
While of low occurrence, the knobby area of
(figs. 36, Qh, lb, c).
juncture between stem and flower (Element s) is perhaps confined
Dots placed at the tips
exclusively to Palenque and Chichen Itza.
traits are

two or three

sites.

of the petals (Element j) occur in any frequency only at Chichen

Itza and Copan.
Sepals notably in the tradition of Chichen Itza

appear at Xcocha, Chama, Quirigua, and Yaxchilan (Entry 134c,

The only occurrences on the monuments of Element
V (feathers placed against the flower) may be at Chichen Itza and
northern Yucatan, but the form if not the concept is duplicated at
Quirigua and perhaps Palenque. Moreover, unless balls of featherwork
have been misclassified as flowers, the same association takes place
on pottery from Yucatan and the Middle Motagua, and it may be
figs. 5e, 2a, f).

present in the codices.

The data of the tables show a general tendency for Flower Elements/, jp, q, and h to have a chronological priority over the others.
These traits (stem entering flower, inner area, mammiform shape,
and line along center of flower) are often associated with Flower

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

100

Making

Groups II and IV.

[Boll. 151

appearance considerably later in

subsequent to it, are Flower Elements I, m, 0, and v (various types of basal zoning and feathers pendent from the flower). Perhaps to this late category should be added
Classic times

Elements

if

not, in

some

their

cases,

and u (jutting of sepal into flower's base,

and sepallike appearance of a knotted stem).

g, j,

flower's top,

circles at

Regard-

time of first appearance in the

however, the traits agree in their pattern of continuation until the
floral art of

less of the

latest

known

the sculptures,

times.

STEM AND ROOT

Wide variation exists in the representations of

The treatment may be quite simple when the flower
dress ornament, the

mere suggestion

the plant stems.

occurs as a head-

of a knot perhaps being shown.

Frequently, however, the knotting is made the subject of great elabThis is particularly true at Copan (fig. 66) and in Copanoration.
Kjiotting of flower
like treatments at Quirigua (Entries 105, 113).
stems around the wrists of a crocodilelike being also occurs at Copan,

Flower stems are bound around

in connection with fish (Entry 58).

the arms and wrists of figures in the Santa Rita frescoes, taking on a
Flower stems are wound around the
ropelike quality (Entry 120).
waist in the Tulum frescoes (Entry 133). The knotting of stalks
into scrolled or angular panel forms
of the

same

tradition

may

be another manifestation

(fig. 4:d).

Six Panel Types are recognized for the shapes assumed

stem

(table

1).

The forms

standing considerable
standardized.

by the

are basically geometric and, notwith-

superficial

modification,

are

rather

highly

Types of Maya Treatment of the Stem as a Panel

The stem
The stem

and falls in angular undulations (fig. Ic, d).

a basically horizontal band which passes downward at either end.
In certain instances (Entries 71, 118, fig. 3/) the band is halved, the disconnected portions balancing one another to achieve the effect.
C. The stem is a basically horizontal band which, however, takes the form of an
It descends from its source and divides, passing
inverted, much-flattened T.
horizontally on either side and then jutting slightly upward (fig. 2/).
D. A U-shape is taken by the stem.
Knotting of the sort
E. The stem passes back on itself to form an enclosure.
The height tends to exceed the width and the
just discussed may occur.
contours tend to be angular, but a circular wreathlike form is abo known
A.
B.

(fig.

rises

is

4d).

F. Highly scrolled

the panel type.

and cursive aspects

basically modify the angular qualities of

^"^^^

WATER

No.^34?^'

LILY IN

MAYA ART

BRANDS

101

Panel Type A is perhaps exclusively confined to Chichen Itza and

Palcnque. It appears in great strength at the former site, its occurrences at the latter usually being subject to cursive modification.
One
of the Palenque Type A panels is highly angular, however (fig. Ic).
Occurring along the walls of buildings at Chichen Itza, where space
limitations are not so great as on the stucco piers at Palenque, the
panels tend to be much longer. Dating at Palenque is in doubt, but
Proskouriakoff (1950, pp. 137-192) regards the piers of House D, in
which the two typical examples occur, to be the latest in the Palace
complex, from about Katun 16 of Baktun 9. The Sayil example

compares in part.
Panel Type B occurs more widely, being known from Copan,
Palenque, Quirigua, and perhaps (^ancuen and Tulum, and on Alta
Verapaz ceramics. Its earliest dated appearance is probably in

Katun

10.

Panel Type

occurs prominently at Piedras Negras, where

from Katuns 12

to 16,

Itza

Many striking parallels

(fig. 2/, d).

and appears

also at Yaxchilan

it

dates

and Chichen

exist in the latter representa-

The type is suggested at Tulum.

Panel Type D occurs at Copan and Quirigua (Katuns 15, 16).
Panel Type E occurs prominently on two Quirigua stelae (Katun

tions.

17)

Dresden, Madrid, and Perez Codices.

A tuberous root, probably the water lily rhizome, is occasionally
depicted.
It occurs with striking realism on a vase from Yucatan
(fig. 6e).
Similar designs occur at Palenque (fig. Ic and, perhaps, 16).
Stylized, the rounded objects at the ends of long stems at Sayil (Entry
121b) compare with the rhizomes of figure Qe, both in marking and in
position.
Analogous forms, which recapture much of the same swollen,
knobby appearance, are discussed below in connection with the Overall Type He.
They are found at Palenque, Chichen Itza, the Alta
Verapaz, and, in higlily variant form, Copan.
Uncertainties in the chronological record, coupled with the lack of
sufficient data about representations on media other than the monuments, prohibit more than speculation about the development of floral
forms. In analyzing the water lily forms, however, one is constantly
forced to revert to the decorations in the Palace at Palenque. Here
occur what seem to be the most realistic portrayals, the most convincing prototypes to nature, the most characteristic conventionalizations
(figs. 16, c, 3g).
Stela 8 at Piedras Negras, which displays rather close

and

in the

similarities in flower

and

leaves,

is

relatively early (9.14.15.0.0?).

It is

tempting to look toward the Usumacinta region for the major developments in the elaboration of the water lily.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

102

MYTHIC ASSOCIATIONS OF PROBABLE WATER

[Bull. 151

LILIES

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
As has been indicated, the water lily has frequently been associated
with mythologic figures in highly distinctive ways in Maya art.
These associations are given for individual representations in table 1
and are summarized in tables 5 and 6.
The mythic or symbolic associations are

of different sorts: (1)

the representations from which

The

seems to
emerge; (2) the anatomical portion of a being from which the water lily
emerges; and (3) the figures occurring amidst the plant. Additional
features tabulated are the presence of flower-eating fish and of death
symbols, the latter said by Lothrop to be a recurrent feature with water
source of the water

lily,

i.

e.,

it

plants (Lothrop, 1926, p. 161; Thompson, 1950), The presence of

the water lily in human and nonhuman headdresses is also noted,

and the occurrence of these forms in glyphs is indicated. Presences

lilies anywhere in the often very elaborate human headdresses are recorded. Only those water lilies which appear actually
to be worn are recorded for nonhuman headdresses, the growth of
plants from the head being classified under a separate category.
Mythic beings serving as the source of the plant are the heads of
various long-nosed, serpentine, and perhaps bird forms, subsumed
under the name of "Serpent Head X" ^ the Long-nosed God, complete

of water

with body various forms with birdlike attributes, tabulated separately

under the headings "Wing Panel," "Serpent Bird," and "Bird," but
perhaps to be treated as manifestations of a single entity; and the
jaguar. Mask panels, which quite frequently may be representations
of "Serpent Head X" or "Serpent Bird" forms, also occur as the
source of the plant. Aside from the jaguar, which seems to stand
somewhat aloof, the complex is a tightly knit one. Substitution of
attributes appears to have been marked, both on an artistic and con;

ceptual level.
The term "Serpent Head X" is taken from Kidder, Jennings, and Shook (1946, pp. 223-226).
It has probably been extended somewhat in meaning from their original usage, but the interchange of artistic attributes
among beings of possibly diverse origins has been so great that some all-inclusive term is required in the
summary tables. "Serpent Head X" fits admirably, for most of the forms tabulated under this heading
fall well within the range so designated by these authors.
They have, moreover, called attention to the
association of floral and leaf forms (Flower Types Q, N, in the present paper) with the mythic being in

question.
The term "Serpent Bird" is taken from Maudslay, who illustrated a number of examples of this being.
According to him, its diagnostic feature was the profile conventionalization of a snake head, lacking a lower
jaw, that is placed at the bony wing structure of a bird or used as an isolated element (Maudslay, 1889-1902,
vol. 1, pi. 99, pp. 63-64). Spinden, however, questioned that this feature was of sufficient significance to
warrant the equation of all forms showing it and employed the term "Wing Panel" in referring to it (Spinden,
1913, pp. 60-61, 78), As "Bird" is used in tabulations of the present paper, the body of a bird or even the
somewhat conventionalized head of a creature possessing its characteristics is acceptable. But birdlike
features on a Long-noped God type of head result in tabulation under "Serpent Head X."

^^"^11^^- P^^-

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

103

Largely in relation to these beings, the primary anatomical sources

seem to be the top of the head and the ears, eyes, mouth,
and hands; perhaps the nose and the neck should be included. So
far as the jaguar is concerned, the only anatomical source is apparently
the head (or possibly the ear, to which the stem eventually may lead
back) this seems clear-cut. The case is much more complex for the
other beings. It seems possible, however, that the emergence of the
water lUy from the head is primarily a feature of the Long-nosed
forms. Less certainly, the issuance of the plant
Serpent Head
from the mouth appears to be mainly associated with the Serpent
Bird and its close affiliates. Ear, nose, and eyes as anatomical
sources are shuttled back and forth among the various beings in a
most complex way.
of the plant

HANDS OR arms; FIGURES AMIDST PLANT

Hands
which

it

or arms as sources from which the plant springs, or through

passes,

fit

a different pattern.

Human

or anthropomorphic

figures tend to occur with their bodies wholly or largely depicted,

thus contrasting with the emphasis on detached heads or mask panels

At Chichen Itza, in
characteristic of the other anatomical sources.
what must surely be representations of water lilies, numerous seated

human figures

are holding the undulating plants

at Quirigua, one

(fig.

Id).

Two

figures

shown with jaguar paws, stand under a canopylike,

E arrangement of creepers or stems, the lower portions

which are held in their hands and arms (Entries 108, 109). Elsewhere at Quirigua and at Copan, the bodies of human figures that hold
Panel Type

of

elaborated stalks are only partially depicted (Entries 115, 50, 51).
is also true at Palenque, where the Long-nosed God and so-called
"Maize God" (Spinden, 1913, p. 89) are associated fwith elaborate
stems or vines that pass from their hands (Entries 90, 81). Although
the bodies of these Palenque and Copan figures are incompletely shown,
the assumption of a reclining position analogous to that at Chichen
Itza is indicated. The Long-nosed Deities, Gods'B and K, occur in a
somewhat similar situation in the Dresden Codex (Entry 305). A
stalk or vine, held in the hands of God B, encloses the seated figure

This

God

K in a Type E panel.

The resemblance

to the Quirigua figures

Figures appear in panels,
composed of interlaced vine or stalk forms, in the Madrid and Perez
Codices (Entries 313, 317). They do not hold the stems, however.

of

just cited

is

suggestive (Entries 108, 109).

A seated human figure from Palenque holds a water-lily leaf in its

upraised hand (Entry 76, fig. 3g)
A stem terminating in a realistically
treated Type A flower hangs from the leaf. This appears to be one
.

of the

more securely

909871 5.S

identified

water

lilies

in

Maya

art.

similar

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

104

[Bull. 151

representation occurs in the Dresden Codex, held in the hand of the

Long-nosed God (Entry 301, fig. 3h). Additional appendages suggest
that

some

sort of paraphernalia

is

depicted, but the basic elements of

pad that is held in the hand and flower which hangs from
the pad seems to be duplicated. A design on a Yucatan bowl shows
a flower stemming from an unidentified object which is held in the
hand (Entry 221, fig. 3d). The flower, Type B, is of interest because
of its resemblances to some of the more surely identified water lilies
Its general contours and, in particular, the treatat Chichen Itza.
ment of Flower Element g closely parallel the flower at the extreme
water

lily

right in figure Id.

water

lily

that

held in

is

Codex

Flowers, associated or unassociated with possible

to be attached to some sort of paraphernalia

seem
the hand

leaves,

in the

Tulum

frescoes

and perhaps the Dresden

(Entries 131, 307).

series of pictures in the

Dresden Codex show God

holding or

plucking stalklike objects. The stems arise from realistically depicted or conventionalized surface water (Entries 302, 303) and occur
Dancing, the god holds
in association with fish (Entries 301, 304).
stems that are apparently rooted as creepers (Entry 304). These
features suggest that the water lily, or at least some sort of waterplant,

is

depicted.

A Sayil panel shows a grotesque head in full face with arms stretching
The hands hold bulbous objects, which
rhizomes of figure Ge. One end of a
water
lily
probable
resemble the
these
objects, while at the other end the
from
stems
passes
pair of
stems issue from the eyes of the being.
to either side (Entry 121b).

HEAD OR FOREHEAD

The attachment

of water

to the

lilies

heads of Long-nosed

God

forms, or the actual growth of the plants from their heads, is apparent
Two highly specialized complexes,
in a number of representations.

Types lie and He, emerge.

In a handful of representations, a distinctively shaped design,
which may indicate the water lily rhizome, passes upward from the
head of the Long-nosed God, branching once. It is known to occur
only at Palenque, on Chama pottery, and in surprisingly similar
essentially identical to the Over-all

form at Chichen Itza (Entries

73, 80, 201, 205, 29; figs. 5h,

i,

g).

appearance and recalls the more

Entries
depicted
rhizomes
of
77 and 22 (figs. Ic, Ge). In
realistically
narrowing abruptly at the end, the vestigial stem which is thus formed

The

design

is

somewhat tuberous

in

Type He) penetrates a flower of mammiform characteris(Flower Elements/, g). The clear-cut features of the motif and
the fact that, like other realistic representations of the rhizome, it is
connected with the Long-nosed God type of head, make it of special
(Over-all

tics

WATER LILY IN MAYA ARTRANDS

Nnir"^^'""
interest.

Somewhat

similar designs, lacking identifiable water

attributes, appear at Yaxchilan, Naranjo,

1903,

pi.

Structure

In a

105
lily-

and Bonampak (Maler,

58; 1908 a, pi. 40, No. 1; Villagra Caleti, 1949,

Room

3 of

1).

series of

Type

ITc representations, the water-lily leaf

ently tied to the forehead of mythic or

presumably

also a

water

human

is

by a

beings

apparflower,

The most certain representation of a

House C, Palenque (Entry 68).

lily.

water-lily leaf at the forehead occurs in

Here it is not tied on by a flower, but it provides a not-to-be-disputed

precedent for the occurrence ot water-lily leaves at the forehead.
At Copan, where it forms the well-known fish and water-plant motif,
the flower which attaches the water lily is Type E (Entry 53, fig. 66).
Here the leaf appears in front view, but the profile depictions form a
somewhat more sharply defined and more numerous complex (e. g.,
4a, 5e, Qc, d). The rounded interior band (Element h) is especially
pronounced, the outward marginal flare is emphasized, the shape is
essentially square rather than rectangular, and the notched outline
(Element/) tends to be characterized by sharp rather than squarish
figs.

protuberances.

Nevertheless,

degree rather than kind.

the Dresden

Codex

the differences seem to be ones of

Vestigial marginal notches (Element

m)

in

are akin to those at Palenque (Entries 310, 76).

The flower at La Amelia shows resemblances

Type E flowers at Copan (Entries 63, 53, figs,

to the

asymmetrical

^d, h).

The

flowers

on a Chajcar vessel were recognized as water plants by Maudslay,

and the stalks form an elaborate panel, of the general sort that
characterizes some of the most surely identified of the water lilies in
Maya art (Entry 208, fig. be).
The lower protuberances of profile water-lily leaves mentioned
above are of particular interest, for they jut downward into the eye
orbit in a way strongly reminiscent of the heavy bony brow ridges
that appear with fair frequency on grotesque heads and fleshless
skulls in Maya art. Altar R, Copan, illustrates this treatment nicely
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pi. 94a). A complex process of convergence, based on artistic interplay of motifs associated with the
forehead,

may

be involved.

In any event, the designs in question

are set off sharply in other ways,

the

somewhat more

and have

close, crosscutting ties to

definitely indentified water lily leaves

and

flowers.

In additional representations, foreheads which are marked by no

water-lily leaves are nevertheless decorated by knotted flowers of
possible water lily type.
Full-face mask panels seem frequently to
be treated in this way. The fish and water-plant motif occurs with
these associations on exterior friezes of the Temple of the Cross,
Palenque (Entry 84). In one of these representations, the stem is
treated as a solid band. The forehead design on Altar U, Copan, is

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

106

[Bull. 151

may

occur here in more stylized fonn

97a). Floral forms, which tend to
be of the mammiform Flower Type H, occur with some frequency at
the ends of head bands on mask panels in the Puuc Period archi-

comparable, and the motif

(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol.

The bands are sometimes composed of series of

The Monjas complexes, at both Chichen Itza

tecture of Yucatan.
flowers in top view.

and Uxmal, are

1, pi.

rich in this sort of design (Seler, 1902-23, vol. 3,

p. 713, fig. 2; vol. 4, p. 538, figs.

266-268; vol.

5,

pp. 210, 224, 226,

These occurrences are not

tabulated but are exemplified in figure 4e. Type J flowers are suggested in other representations which are worked into the mask
panels and which occur on the same "stem" as a Group II floral type
The forms are often highly
(Seler 1902-23, vol. 3, p. 713, fig. 2).
236, 245,

figs.

15, 35, 37, 38, 48, 63).

stylized and, while some relationship to floral designs is apparent,

neither the possible role of convergence nor relationships with the

water lily as such

from the tables.

The occurrence
and flowers

is clear.

is

for this reason that they are omitted

of water-lily leaves without

much more

accompanying stems

The presence
House C, Palenque, on the
nine stucco masks on the inner wall of the West

(Over-all

of a probably

It

Type IV)

unaccompanied

is

limited.

leaf in

forehead of one of
Corridor, has been alluded to previously (Entry 68). A possible
association of the water lily with one of the Nine Lords of the Under-

world

is

suggested.

(Cf.

Thompson,

1950.)

On Zoomorph

P,

Quirigua, elongated leaves apparently are placed at the foreheads of

the mythic animal which comprises the boulder and of the mask carved

upon

its

upper surface (Entry 118,

fig. 3/).

EYES

A Mexican Period mask panel at Chichen Itza, which has interesting

correspondences to several Classic Maya sites, is apparently marked
at the forehead by a water lily leaf (Entry 22, fig. 2d). The squarish
protuberances so characteristic of Leaf Element / overlie the eye
Two stems apparently descend from the leaf, each cutting
orbits.
The representation compares to the descent of the
across an eye.
stem from a leaf in figure 3g, but at the same time it suggests the
emergence of the stalks from the eyes. This motif occurs elsewhere
at Chichen Itza (Entry 19), but is otherwise known only from a Sayil
lintel (Entry 121b), Stela B, Copan, where it is repeated, and Stela 7,
Yaxchilan (Entries

The latter
50, 152, fig. 2b, J).
stem likewise rises in a Type

pecially similar, for the

monument

is es-

panel in which

animals appear. At Chichen Itza the animals are a water bird and
turtle (Entry 22, fig. 2d), while in the Yaxchilan representation they
At Yaxchilan and Copan the eyes are feathered.
are rodentlike.

Anthrop. Pap,

NO

34]

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

107

although at the former

site the being is a Long-nosed God form and at

the latter, perhaps, a highly conventionalized bird. Stela 7, Yax-

may date from Katuns 15 or 16 of Baktun 9, while Stela B,

Copan, bears a 9.15.0.0.0 inscription.
The representation on Stela B, Copan, has interesting analogies in
Classic Maya art.
At Copan the stalk which hangs down from the
eye has an inverted Long-nosed God head dangling from it; the stem
chilan,

then passes horizontally into the

The grotesque

hand

of a small

face from which the stem descends

is

human

figure.

in profile.

Its

nose or beak hangs down in a way resembling full-face representations

of the Serpent Bird, and its feathered eye may be associated with that
being (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pi. 99; Maler, 1903, pi. 70). It
is identical, for practical purposes, to the profile mask at Palenque
upon which the water-lily-holding figure is seated (Entry 76). This
suggests that at Copan, too, the water lily may be depicted, although
neither flowers nor leaves occur.
On Stela D, Quirigua, a stem passes
in a corresponding way from its source, in connection with a birdlike
being, to the head of a Long-nosed God (Entry 104, fig. 2a).
Here the
stem seemingly emerges from the bird's mouth or, possibly, chest.
A fish occurs at the bird's head or headdress which may, therefore,
have water hly connections.

MOUTH
The emergence of water-lUy-like plants from the mouth falls into two
One finds stems passing from the
corners of the mouth of a being shown in full face.
The stems tend
to pass outward in elaborate panels (Types A, B).
The beings often
show birdlike features; a Palenque example (Entry 72) is the Serpent
Bird.
The forehead of another, from Chichen Itza, is marked with
or three well-defined complexes.

crossed bands of the type seen to be present in a probable water

leaf elsewhere at the site (Entries 24, 22).

The

lily

latter representations

are among the more ceitainly identified water lilies in Maya art.
This complex appears at Chichen Itza, Palenque, and Piedras Negras

(Entries 24, 72, 95, 99).

second complex, relating to the emergence of a plant from the

is known only from the site of Xultun (Entries 136-140).
Flowers issue from the mouths of small cats, which are held in the

mouth,

hands of human figures. The composite Flower Type Q occurs, as

does an asymmetiical form suggestive of Type E.
A third complex may, more remotely, refer to the emergence of
flowers from the mouth.
The missing lower jaw of the Wing Panel, a
serpent head in profile, is replaced by numerous foreign elements such
as feathers and nose plugs.
Among the substituting elements are
floral forms, placed partially behind the teeth, thereby giving the

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

108

[Bull. 151

impression of emerging from the mouth. Conceivably the association is a conceptually fortuitous one, but it occurs in connection with
the fish and water-plant motif at Palenque (Entries 70, 75, fig. 6/) and
in highly interesting designs on Stelae A and C and Zoomorph P,
Quirigua (Entries 108, 109, 115). At the latter site, flowers appear
with the Wing Panel at the wing of the Serpent Bird (Entries 108,

and in at least one of these cases the outline of the Wing Panel
formed by a stem or vine (Entry 115). The stem is held in the
hands of a human figure in each representation. In Entries 108 and
109, the stem may have its source at the head, beak, or ear of a mucheroded Serpent Bird, but, in any case, it terminates in the inverted
heads of Long-nosed God forms. In this joining by means of stems
or vines of Long-nosed God heads with the heads of probable birds,
the pattern of Stela D, Quirigua, and Stela B, Copan, is repeated (En109),

is

tries 104, 50).

In the Dresden Codex a probable stem, issuing from the mouth of an

anthropomorphic vulture, is held in the bird's hand (Entry 308).
This recalls the Sayil portrayal of the emergence of stalks from the
eyes of a being who holds the same plant in its hands (Entry 121b).
As is sometimes the case when the water lily surges from the mouth,
the stems of the Sayil plant pass outward to both sides in an elaborate
panel.

Not known

to

fit

into a

design emerges from the

124,

fig.

The

3i).

Flower Type N
on Stela 1, Tikal (Entry
noteworthy for its unusually

complex of

mouth

this sort, a

of a serpent

representation

is

early occurrence, probably at the very beginning of

Baktun

9.

MISCELLANEOUS ASSOCIATIONS

stem

is

frequently associated with the jaguar's head. Frontits source is hidden in the region at the back of the head

ward growing,

Appearing on a jaguarlike being in the Temple of the Sun,

Palenque, the stems, two in number, seem to spring forth from the

or ears.

region just back of the ears (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pi. 88). The
stems occasionally terminate in flowers, the shape of the stem being
unchanged. The mammiform Type
flower occurs in this connection (Entry 44, fig. 4c)
The similarly placed flower on a vase from
Chama (Entry 203, fig 5/) is virtually identical to a flower which ties
a probable water lily leaf to a serpentine head on a Chajcar bowl
(Entry 208, fig. 5e). A jaguar depicted on a Yucatan bowl sits in a
wreath of probable water lilies, and a flower may grow from its head or
ear (Entries 219, 220, fig. 4d). Such features tend to associate the
jaguar with the water lily. Spinden has pointed out the water-lilylike appearance of a flower in the Dresden Codex that grows from the
jaguar's head (Entry 309), and on the strength of this has postulated a

Nmr'^''^"

WATER

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

109

further association of the jaguar with the fish and water-plant motif
(Spinden, 1913, p. 77).

A close correspondence has been pointed out previously between

bowls from the Rio Hondo, British Honduras, and the Esperanza
Period of Kaminaljuyu (Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 1946, pl.226).
Although the fish and water-plant motif occurs only on the former
vase, and its Type Q flowers are replaced by Type N "leaves" on the
Kaminaljuyu vessel, the mythic beings with which the vegetation is

associated are strildngly similar (Entries 211, 214, figs. 4:g,f). In each
case, six projecting elements, feathers with crosshatched circles, rise

from the Long-nosed God or Serpent

heads. The feathers are of
the type that sometimes occurs in connection with the Serpent Bird
and the Wing Panel (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pi. 99c^, e, h). Their
occurrence at the top of the head recalls the mask panel on Stela 4,
Yaxchilan (Maler, 1903, pi. 70), a representation which in turn shows
strong correspondences to the Serpent Bird (Tozzer and Allen, 1910,
pp. 337ff, pi. 21). A complex which is conceptually linked to flowers
and, by extension, to the water lily, seems once again to embody aspects of the bird and Long-nosed God or serpentine forms.
Several representations of the Serpent Bird with Wing Panel markings show it wearing a distinctive type of bar pendant around its neck
(Taylor, 1941, p. 52, fig. 8^).
Designs from Palenque, Chama,
Xcalumkin, and in the Perez Codex are especially to be compared
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pi. 81; Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 95c;
Dieseldorff, 1926-33, vol. 2, p. 29, pi. 326; Perez 126).
The pendant
recurs at the necks of probable vultures in a panel of water lilies at
Chichen Itza (Entry 26, fig. Id; Tozzer and Allen, 1910, p. 332, pi. 19,
fig. 14).
It appears again at the neck of a similar bird, pictured on a
Rio Hondo vase, resting on a possible water-lily plant (Entry 215).
Serpent-Bird-lilve beings occur in full-figure glyphs on Stela D and
Zoomorph B, Quirigua, sometimes with the bar pendant and sometimes with vulture aspects (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pis. 14, 15,
25, 26; Spinden, 1913, pp. 80-81).

Flowerlike forms, wiiich may well be water lilies, occasionally appear at the corners of shields or shieldlike medallions. Such flowers
are tabulated, but the frequent placement of probable balls of featherwork at the corners of shields proves a source of confusion (cf. Maler,
Flowers or feathers at the four
1901, pi. 17; 1903, pi. 74, No. 2).
corners of the jaguar-head shield in the Temple of the Sun, Palenque,
form perfect Palenque-type water lihes except for absence of sepals
(Entry 8 Id). Medallions at Palenque, Quirigua, and El Cliicozapote
may possibly be compared (Entries 81c, 103c, 116, 59a). Floral forms
also appear at the corners of "eclipse shields" on pages 56 and perhaps
52 of the Dresden Codex.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

110

Stylized flowers occasionally appear

on

[Bull. 151

loincloth aprons as the

central element in Proskouriakoff's leaf-and-fringe motif (Proskonriakoff, 1950, pp. 38, 97; Entries 59b, 67a, 103a, 122a).

therefore, that

more

realistically treated flowers

It is of interest,

hang from stems

in a

corresponding position (Entries 217d, 312b).

possible association of significance exists between the water lily

Water lily designs occur prominently on the

ball game.
benches of the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza, a single motif, of
flowering stalks growing from the decapitated neck of a ball-game
Water lilies are
player, being repeated six times (Entry 35).
prominently depicted elesewhere in the Ball Court complex in the
South Temple, the Temple of the Tigers, and the Lower Chamber of
Floral forms are, however, of heavy occurrence elsewhere
the Tigers.
Although baU-court
in the representative art of Chichen Itza.
markers at Chinkultic and Copan also display floral representations,
many others are lacking in them. While these occurrences are of
considerable interest, it seems best, in view of the inconclusive data,
not to press the matter too far.
and the

GLYPHIC ASSOCIATIONS OF PROBABLE WATER LILIES

Several of the representations referred to in the preceding section
are hieroglyphs.

It is apparent, therefore, that nonglyphic portrayals

which share a given complex with glyphs bear upon the problem of
the glyphs and are, in turn, to be understood in terms of them.
The occurrence of Long-nosed God heads connected by stems to
bird forms is of particular interest in this regard (Entries 50, 104, 108,
Stela D, Quirigua, is one ol the rare monuments having full109).
figure inscriptions (fig. 2a).
Here the long-nosed being is the headvariant of the number 13, and the grotesque bird, with a fleshless lower
jawbone, is the full-figure variant of the tun sign (Morley, 1915,
The inverted long-nosed heads on Stelae A and C, Quifig. 5260rigua, which dangle from possible water lily stems, have the downcurved, beaklike noses of the bird forms in the hieroglyphs (Entries
Their heads are marked with tau signs, which appear
108, 109).
prominently in connection with a probable water lily panel at Palenque
(Entry 71), and are feathered (cf. Entries 211, 214). On Stela B,
Copan, the dangling Long-nosed God heads may also have a connection with time periods of the sort dealt with on Stela D at Quirigua
(Entry 50, fig. 26).
The head variant of the number 13 recurs, in connection with the
water lily, at Palenque (Morley, 1915, fig. 52x,y; Entry 69, fig. 4a).
The leaf is tied to the Long-nosed God's forehead by a sash, and
floral forms rise from the leaf or head.

WATER

No.^34?^

LILY IN

MAYA ART

Flowers, apparent variants of the

Type

BRANDS
E

water

111
lilies

at Copan,

are tied to the heads of several beings in the full-figure glyphs of Stela

and Zoomorph B, Quirigua. Toads, as the uinal variants, wear

such headdresses on Stela D (Entry 105) and Zoomorph B (Entry 112).
In other glyphs, of unlmown significance, beings wear similar flowers
(Zoomorph B, Entries 113, 114). A possible flower is placed at the
forehead of a head variant of the number zero (Stela D, Entry 106).
A flower-bearing stem issuing from its head or ear, the jaguar occurs
at Copan in glyphs of unknown meaning (Entries 44, 49, fig. 4c).
Jaguar glyphs at Yaxchilan may depict flowers in top view, near
although not connected to the head; featherwork may, instead, be
intended (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pis. 88, Nos. 6, 7; 89, Glyph
M2). More closely corresponding to the jaguar of figure 4c is the same
animal in the variable element in the Introducing Gylph, as patron of
the month Pop. Beyer, while regarding the tusk as the most characteristic detail of the jaguar as a month indicator, notes the presence of
"flourishes" adorning its head (Beyer, 1931, p. 100). These flourishes
are, in some instances without any doubt, the same stem form that
occurs in nonglyphic art.
The variable element in the Introducing Glyph for the month Pax
may be "a symbol of vegetation," which replaces the lower jaw of a
solar deity (Beyer, 1931, pp. 106, 108).
On Zoomorph B, Quirigua,
it occurs in this way, given the appearance of emerging from the
mouth (Entry 111, fig. 6a). A similar design occurs in Glyph 11,
passing from the mouth of the probable head variant for number 8.
This glyph records the date 8 Pax, and it would appear that reduplication occurred, the characteristics of the month Pax being given to
the full-figure variant of the accompanving numeral (cf. Morley,
1937-38, vol. 4, pp. 167-168).
A double row of Type flowers occurs in association with a kan

(yellow) sign, comprising a glyph in the

Palenque (Entry

Temple

of the Foliated Cross,

91, fig. 46).

The occurrence

glyphs of vegetation forms, which have the

lilies in Maya art, appears to be especially strong at Copan, Quirigua, and Palenque. The
present compilation of floral motifs in the glyphs lays no claim to
completeness, however. Furthermore, much of the emphasis on
flowers in glyphs at Quirigua results from repeated occurrences of
the motif on two monuments bearing fuU-figure inscriptions, Stela
and Zoomorph B. Other examples of the rare full-figure glyphs are
in

associations that characterize probable water

not so dominated by
son, it
'

at

floral motifs.^

became the vogue

The fish and

Perhaps, for some fortuitous rea-

to depict the

water

lily

extensively

on these

water-plant motif does occur In the sculptured scene accompanying the full-figure glyphs

Palenque (Entry 81e).

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

112

[Bull. 151

Quirigua monuments, and in applying this favored motif regard was

not given to the inherent symbolism most appropriate to the specific
time units, numbers, or deities involved. That this explanation cannot hold for all the glyphic floral representations on these monuments,
particularly on Stela D, is indicated by certain important correspondences to motifs elsewhere in Maya art. Nor is a brief held for
this explanation of the other floral occurrences.

Thompson,

in his recent

work on Maya hieroglyphic

writing, has

independently noted the association of certain deities with water lily

Designated by him are the old god of the number 5 (Thompflowers.

Entry 12 in the present paper); the rain and storm

(Thompson,
1950, p. 134; Entry 78; the death god
god of number 6
(Thompson,
10
number
1950, p. 279; cf. Entry 55); the
as lord of
Long-nosed God of number 13 (Thompson, 1950, p. 136; Entries 69,
104) the jaguarlike patron of the month Pax (Thompson, 1950, p. 115;
Entry HI); and the crocodilelike Imix earth monster (Thompson,
1950, p. 72; perhaps various of the "Long-nosed" or "Serpent X"
heads in the entries, e. g.. Entry 78). The suggestion is also made
that the comb form of the "count" affix, which is usually designated
as a fish fin, may possibly be the stylization of a water lily flower
(Thompson, 1950, pp. 44-45). Such an interpretation is consistent
son, 1950, p. 133;

many

representations of the water

lily and, in fact,

Representations such as those in
Entries 134a, 147 should especially be compared.
Thompson further regards the normal or symbolic form of the day

with

artistically

had occurred

to the present writer.

sign Imix as derived from a water-lily flower (1950, p. 72,

fig.

6).

Characteristic of Imix, in fact, are markings corresponding to Flower

Elements a or d, k, m, and n ("petal" lines, dots toward base of flower,

crosshachure toward base, semicircular line or color difference toward

Of these elements, k (a semicircular row of dots toward the

base).

flower's base)
Itza, being

is

Palenque and Chichen

form in which it occurs in the hirepresentations from other sites. Combined with

especially characteristic of

unknown

eroglyphs in

floral

in the ideal

Elements m or n (crosshachured or uncrosshatched basal semicircle).

Element k forms a configuration known in floral forms only from
Palenque and Chichen Itza (although cf. Entry 222). Yet if Imix is
derived from the water lily, it is surprising that the same type of
not more characteristic of representations of this flower
If, as seems probable, many of the
in the Maya area as a whole.
features
are correctly identified as water
lacking
these
floral forms
derivation is incorrect
Thompson's
either
that
would
appear
lilies, it
Itza alone maintained
Palenque
and
Chichen
reason
for
some
or that
depicting
the water lily
tradition
of
features
of
the
important
these
which was in vogue when the appearance of the day signs, or at
treatment

is

No.'^

34?^'

^"^^^

WATER

MAYA ART

LILY IN

RANDS

113

day sign Imix, was worked out. Could the portrayal of

flower at these two sites have undergone, perhaps independently, an anachronism which based the depiction of the flower on
the glyph Imix and thereby enabled the artists to duplicate the flower
as it was represented in much earUer times? Or could some other
media, such as the codices, have continued to portray the water lily
in the old Imix manner concurrently with the varied changes taking
least of the

the water

lily

place in the floral art of the sculptures during Classic times?

If

the

wealth of Group II flowers, can be regarded

as representative of the codices, this last explanation would appear to
rest on very shaky foundations.

Dresden Codex, with

its

AREAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TRENDS

OVER-ALL TYPE
Site-by-site occurrences of the various symbolic associations are

presented in table

Numerals

5,

together with totals of the Over-all Types.

refer to the total

number

designate the combinations of flower,

The types
stem, and root that occur

of representations.
leaf,

The most distinctive of these types have

in each representation.
been previously discussed (lie, e) the others require little explanations
;

Types of Maya Treatment of the Combined Flower, Stem, Leaf,

AND Root
la.

The

this

type

Type
Type

lb.

flower only
is

is

depicted.

Because of the absence of other features,

most apt to be confused with

balls of featherwork.

flower occurs on a relatively simple stem.

If

the stem

is

very short

but nevertheless observable, a questioned occurrence is tabulated.

Type Ila. A flower occurs in connection with a complex stem.

Type
Type
Type

A flower occurs on the same stem as a leaf or leaves.

A leaf is attached to the forehead by means of a knotted flower.
lid. A flower occurs in connection with a distinctively marked rhizome

lib.
lie.

and stem.
Type He. A flower occurs

at the tip of a vestigial stem, which

is little

differentiated

from the tuberous rhizome.

Type
Type
Type

leaf, rhizome, and stem occur together.

complex stem occurs, but its associations are not clear.
Ilia.
simple stem appears, unaccompanied by other parts of the plant.
It is particularly associated with the jaguar's head.
Type Illb. A complex stem occurs, unaccompanied by other parts of the plant.
Ilf.

Flower,

II-?.

A
A

Type IV. The

Type

leaf only occurs.

lb, a flower attached to a relatively simple stem, is of greatest

Maya art. Probable flowers which lack stems are of

next strongest occurrence (Type la), followed by flowers attached to
complex stems (Type Ila). Of notably weak occurrence are the
combinations of flower, rhizome, and stem (lid, e), flower, leaf,

occmrence in

rhizome, and stem

(llf),

and

isolated leaves (IV).

Palenque, whose

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

114

[Bull. 151

wide variation in this respect compares to the near universality of

flower types and elements at Chichen Itza, has the only known designs
that bring together flower, stem, leaf, and rhizome in a single represenIt may share the occurrence of a leaf, without other
tation (fig. 15, c).
Quirigua only. Chichen Itza stands out in the
with
associations,
complex stem (Types Ila, II-?).
the
emphasis given
occurrences of Over-all Types and symbolic
gives
the
Table 6
For the monuments, the break-down, when
time.
in
associations
Table 6 differs
possible, is according to the 20-year katun periods.
from the others in that its numerical entries refer not to the total number of representations but to the total number of monuments (e. g.,
UtiHzed in
stelae or structures, on which the representations occur.
conjunction with the other tables, table 6 gives a better perspective
of the total activity put into floral representation.^
The earliest of the Over-all Types, as revealed in table 6, is the
flower attached to a simple stem (Type lb). The type is of steady
occurrence without significant chronological change. The earhest
recorded occurrence of the complex stem is a variant Type lie representation on Stela 2, Copan (9.10.15.0.0?) (Entry 45). This distinctive type, while of limited distribution, seems to possess a fairly long

Type

time range.

lie (a leaf tied to the forehead

possible ocurrence in earlier times at Palenque,

is

by a
first

flower), of

definitely

recorded in 9.15.0.0.0. The complex stem, unaccompanied by other

forms of vegetation, seems first to appear in Katun 12 (Type Illb).
The vestigial stem at the head of a jaguar or similar being extends
back from the time of the latest classic stelae, erected in 10.3.0.0.0,
to 9.4.0.0.0

(Type Ilia).

MYTHIC ASSOCIATIONS
Certain sites stand out significantly in the occurrence of one or two
symbolic associations. The flower-eating fish and presence of plants
in the human headdress are of marked occurrence at Bonampak.
Most of the associations are present at Chichen Itza, but of especial
strength at the site is the presence of human figures amidst the plant.
As many of the associations appear at Copan as at Chichen Itza.
Human and nonhuman headdresses at Copan are frequently connected
' "MonumeEt" as used in the tables has a special meaning.
A stela equals a monument. But all the
sculptured or painted portions of a single building lintels, wall panels, walls, columns, and so on total
only a single monument. The purpose of this terminology is to arrive as nearly as possible at the generalized
unit dealt with by the artist in depicting the water lily, regardless of ihe size or complexity of the plant

If this were not done, a building rich in depictions of the plant would receive undue
weighting in comparative studies. "Representation" also has a special meaning in the tables. It may
roughly be said to be the equivalent of a plant stalk, i. e., of a distinct plant. But if distinct though closely
corresponding stalks emerge from the two corners of a mouth, only a single occurrence is tabulated. To
exemplify further, if two identical stalks are in a single headdress, only one occurrence is noted, but if they
are distinctly treated two representations are tabulated. The purpose of this manipulation is to arrive as

or plants involved.

nearly as possible at the specific unit involved, regardless of the complexity of that unit.

'^'^^'

No.^34r"

with the

floral

WATER

LILT

EST

MAYA ART

BRANDS

forms, and the flower-eating fish

is

115

of important occm*-

number of associations are present

Copan or Chichen Itza. Flowers appear

at Palenque
than at either
especially in
himian headdresses, and the growth of plants from the heads of mythic
beings is marked. The greatest number of associations of any Maya
site occurs at Quirigua.
No one trait stands out; the cosmopolitan
quality observed in connection with the Flower Elements (table 4) is
repeated. Xultun emphasizes the jaguar. Perhaps the most striking
emphasis of a particular trait is found at Yaxchilan, where the Wing
Panel appears with great frequency, in contrast to its virtual lack of
association with the flower elsewhere.
Partly for this reason, the
human headdress, in which the Wing Panel occurs, is of correspondingly high association with the flower.
The human headdress and
growth of the flower from the head tend to be emphasized in the Alta
Verapaz ceramics. The Dresden Codex emphasizes the Long-nosed
God's hand in connection with flowers.
rence.

greater

Traits of scant distribution serve occasionally to couple certain

Stems emerge from the eyes at Chichen Itza, Sayil,

Animals amidst the plant, not tabulated
separately, appear at Chichen Itza and Yaxchilan.
Heads are
connected by stems at Copan and Quirigua. The nose as the
source of growth or attachment of vegetation occurs at Tulum and
Santa Rosa Xtampak and, under quite different circumstances, at
Piedras Negras, and perhaps other sites. On the monuments, human
figures occur amidst the plant only at Chichen Itza, Copan, Palenque,
and Quirigua. Full-figure portrayals of Long-nosed God forms in
connection with flowers are known in the sculptures only at Palenque
and Quirigua.
The associations of the plant forms, some of a highly arbitrary
sites together.

Yaxchilan, and Copan.

nature, are given according to period in table

6.

The

earliest

known

occurrences are from Stela 1 at Tikal (Entry 124, fig. 3-^). Morley
dates the monument, on stylistic grounds, from "very early in Baktun
9, perhaps as early as 9.1.0.0.0" (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, p. 297).

On

the basis of her stylistic analysis. Miss Proskouriakoff accepts a

dating from this early period (1950, pp. 106, 195). Associations with
death symbols and with a serpent head occur; the emergence of
vegetation from the mouth is clear.

Thereafter, floral forms which pass from the mouth have a fairly
steady representation in the sculptures. Rather sylized forms which
seem to have valid connections with the flower occur at Copan in
Katuns 10, 12, and 15, emerging from Wing Panel, Tlaloc, and
serpent mouths, respectively. The Wing Panel was later to become
a dominant motif at Yaxchilan, perhaps around 9.16.0.0.0. Toward
the close of the Classic sequence, at Xultun, probable flowers pass

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

116

[Bull. 151

At Chichen Itza, in Toltec times, comes

considerably earlier Palenque-Piedras
the
of
recurrence
a peculiar
horizontally from the corners of the
passing
stems
of
motif
Negras

from the moutlis of jaguars.

mouth

(Entries 24, 72, 95).

Jaguars, or jaguarlike beings, appear early as favored subjects for
vegetal associations. Usually a flowerless stem is shown in connecThe earliest known occurrence
tion with the back part of the head.

would appear to be in 9.4.0.0.0, at Yaxchilan. Two

flower is
however, a mammiform and sepalless Type
added to the stem this is the earliest recorded occurrence of the flower
with a glyph (Entry 44, Copan). The jaguar has added associations
with the flower in later times, such as hands (9.17.0.0.0, Quirigua) and
mouth (10.1.0.0.0, Xultun). A flower of suggestively Type E appearance also emerges from a jaguar mouth on Stela 19, Xultun (Entry
Morley, while assigning this monument to "the first quarter
136).
of this motif

katuns

later,

of

Baktun

9," grants that

it

may have

to 9.12.0.0.0" (Morley, 1937-38, vol.

1,

been erected "sometime prior

p. 392).

It is considered later

simply to her Late Classic,

The date is of
after 9.8.0.0.0 (Proskouriakoff, 1950, pp. 114-115).
considerable interest, in view of the similarity in treatment of the
flower to that at Copan, where similar types appear only in Katun 16,
as well as for the possibly early association of the flower with the

by Proskouriakoff, who, however,

assigns

it

jaguar's mouth.

Other distinctive associations of the flower tend

to

come

in later.

Chronological uncertainties at Yaxchilan and Palenque, in particular,

obscure the order and time of appearance of these motifs. In general,
the century following the inauguration of Katun 12 saw the floral
motif, as depicted in the sculptures, transformed from a fairly simple
and standardized to a richly elaborated complex. Perhaps Katun 15
was the time of greatest accretion of new associations. The extent to

which the sculptures reflect the situation in other artistic media is,
however, a matter of conjecture. The century of elaboration from
Katuns 12 to 17 saw a great increase in the number of sculptured
erected in the Maya area. This provided a greater opportunity for floral forms to be depicted and, thereby, affords a more
The peak of a curve
reliable range from which to draw conclusions.

monuments

showing the incidence of

floral

motifs would correspond generally to

monuments in Classic Maya

that for the total number

(Cf. Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 3a, and Morley, 1937-38, vol. 4,
art.
If the varied examples at Palenque are correctly atfigs. 148, 149.)
fairly
early period, the peak of the curve for the floral
tributable to a
slightly precede that for the total number of
in
fact,
motifs would,
of sculptured

comparable monuments.

In terms of the total number of represen-

WATER

^"^^

No.'^tir'

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

117

tations, however, a second peak would occur in post-Classic times,

due to the great popularity of flowers at Chichen Itza.
A growth in popularity in late times, whatever the initial appearFollowing such a pattern are
ance, is indicated for certain motifs.
the frequently associated traits of figures seated amidst plants and
holding them in their hands or arms. It may also hold true for the
eyes, nose, and perhaps ear and neck as anatomical sources, at least
Serpent Head X, per se, comes
as opposed to the mouth and head.
into association with vegetation fairly late in the sculptures, mostly

after 9.15.0.0.0; yet

in

it is

considerably earlier, vegetation at

its

head,

Esperanza Period pottery at Kaminaljuyu (Entries 211, 212,

The

fig.

and water-plant
Calakmul (Entry 15),
Earlier occurrences seem probable at Palenque, however, where they
flower characteristic of
are with the petalless and sepalless Type
At Copan, the
earlier times (fig. 6/, perhaps dating from Katun 14).
motif

flower-eating fish of the well-known fish

is first

definitely dated in 9.15.0.0.0, at

appearance of the

fish

53, 54; 9.16.10.0.0).

arrival of a

ushers in a new, petaled form.

The Copan data might suggest

new concept and

Type

(Entries

the simultaneous

art form, perhaps the water lily per se

as opposed to other flowers or leaves.

The Palenque

on the

data,

other hand, would indicate that an association with fish was not inapplicable to the earlier art form.
Of course, nothing more than the

new conceptual setting may be indicated.

In any event, there exists a continuity of tradition which is sizable,
regardless of the rather rapid addition, for about a century, of new
motifs in the floral art of the sculptures. Whether or not the concept
of the water lily was intended throughout, conceptual as well as
artistic ties form a widely ramifying complex, some threads of which
can be traced back for a full baktun or more.
survival of an old form into a

RESEMBLANCES TO THE LOTUS IN INDIAN ART

not the place to go deeply into the complex and highly
The water lily, of
course, represents but a single basic trait, whatever its elaborations.
It should be pointed out, however, that both the water lily of the Maya
area {Nymphaea awpla) and the Hindu lotus (Nelumbo sp.) are
members of a single family, the Nymphaeaceae (Conard, 1905; Roys,
The stalks of both rise prominently above the water. This
1931).
being the case, a certain degree of resemblance in the depictions of the
two related plants might well be expected.
This

is

controversial matter of possible Asiatic affiliations.

A
floral

number of conventionalizations
forms must be admitted to exist

tions of the lotus.

In the

Maya

strikingly

similar

to

Maya

in Southeastern Asiatic depic-

area, the correspondences

seem

to

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

118

[Bulu 151

occur most notably at Chichen Itza, as Heine-Geldern and Ekholm

have pointed out. But they are also marked at Palenque. The
portrayal of the water lily as an undulating creeper, the occurrence of
reclining human figures holding on to the stalk, and the surging of the
stalk from the mouths of monsters are correspondences specifically

mentioned by these writers.

Other random resemblances in the depiction of the water lily ma}'^ be
mentioned. The Type C flower which occurs at Chichen Itza,
Palenque, and Chinkultic (figs. 5a, Ic) is closely paralleled in certain
representations of the lotus (Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 28, No. 1). In
Indian

art, petals jut

out to give the flower a slightly

mammiform

design of the type encountered at Chichen Itza (fig. 6A; Coomaraswamy,

Again, a slightly mammiform quality is suggested
1931, pi. 39, No. 1).
by outlines, either exterior or within the flower (cf. fig. 4c and Cooma-

Multiple scrolls at the flower's base in

pi. 41, No. 4).
Indian art correspond to the Flower Element t at Chichen Itza (fig. Id)
and to turned-back sepals at Quirigua (fig. 2a; cf. Coomaraswamy,
Basal zoning by a semicircle of short, parallel lines
1931, pi. 28, No. 2)
corresponds to Flower Element I, in the Maya area known only at
Chichen Itza (cf. figs, la, Qh). As a frequent motif in India, a string
of pearls hangs down from the flowe:-, comparing in a sense to similar

raswamy, 1931,

placement of feathers at Chichen Itza (cf. Coomaraswamy, 1931,

pi. 28, No. 2, and Flower Element v, fig. Id).
As pointed out by Heine-Geldern and Ekholm, the water lily panels
The
at Chichen Itza closely resemble those of Southeastern Asia.
Indian panels are predominantly like Panel Type A of the present
paper. Angular and cursive varieties occur, corresponding to the
variations in Maya panels (fig. Ib-d; cf. fig. la and Coomaraswamy,
1931, pis. 13, No. 1; 39, No. 1). A water-lily wreath on a bowl from
Yucatan (fig. 4d) compares with the laiotted stem in Indian panel art
(Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 38, No. 3).
Most closely corresponding of the flowers, perhaps, are those from
Chichen Itza and Amaravati shown in figures 3e and la. In addition
to certain of the features already discussed, the flowers in question

have a crosshatched inner zone (Flower Element m) and stamen dots

(Element k) which are virtually identical. In addition, the Indian
example has dots within its crosshachure, corresponding thereby to
Element c of the Maya water lily leaf (cf. fig. lb).
On the other hand, the leaves of the lotus in Indian art appear to
Considerdiffer widely from water lily leaves in Maya art (fig. la-c).
ing the great importance attached to the leaf, this presents a dissimilarity difficult to explain away.
The panel forms at Chichen Itza and Palenque offer the greatest
Other Maya
similarities to the Hindu lotus within the Maya area.

Anthrop. Pap.

NO

34]

WATER

MAYA ART

LILY IN

RANDS

119

sites contemporaneous with Chichen Itza or Palenque differ more

widely from the Indian material. The Type A panel, for example,
seems lacking elsewhere. Conceivably, this may be partially correlated with the unusually great use of representative design in connection with architecture at these two sites, instead of on stelae, as was

But earlier Maya sites lacked not merely

tended to be absent, their place being taken
by Group IV designs. Lacking petals, sepals, and interior markings, these earlier forms contrast sharply with the wealth of petals
depicted ia the Indian lotus and differ, likewise, from the later Maya
characteristic elsewhere.

the panel;

Group

I flowers

representations.

Maya

associations of the water lily having correspondences in In-

The stem emerges from the

mouth (cf. Entry 124, fig. Si, and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pis. 37, 38).
The stalk is held in the hands (cf. Entry 25, fig. Id, and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 30). Reclining human figures are placed amidst the
plant (cf. Entry 25, fig. Id, and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 37, No. 2).
The stem grows from or is attached to the nose (cf. Entry 129, fig. 3b,
and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 38, No. 3). The emergence of the stem
from the mouth compares further in that full-face designs frequently
show the stem to be passing outward horizontally from the corners
of the mouth (Entries 24, 72, 95, 99; cf. Coomaraswamy, 1931, pi. 30,
dian art appear to be quite numerous.

not unique in Maya art, finds

held in the hands of
the creature from which it issued (cf. Entry 308 and Coomaraswamy,
1931, pis. 34, 35). And Entry 121b, in which a stem passes horizontally
in front view from the eyes into the hands of the same being, offers
a related type of comparison.
Other anatomical sources may or
may not be shared.
From the standpoints of style and symbolic presentation, Chichen
Itza and to a lesser extent Palenque show the greatest resemblances
to Indian depictions of the lotus.
But these correspondences do not
have the appearance of a superficial, newly introduced overlay. As
indicated by its complex connections with the Long-nosed God, the
Serpent Bird, and glyphs, the water lily was deeply rooted in basic

No.

2).

Another

parallel trait, rare

the stem which emerges from the

Maya symbolism by
is

at least the

if

mouth being

Maya Middle

correct in suggesting that the water lily

Period.

If

Thompson

was the prototype

for the

day sign Imix and perhaps for the comblike "count" affix in the
Introducing and other glyphs, one must postulate a long and important role for this flower.
For perhaps the most striking of the mythic
associations, the emergence of a plant from the mouth, it can be
shown that the concept existed very early in Baktun 9, probably a
full half-millenium before the representations at Chichen Itza.
90987153

120

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

[Bull. 151

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In the preceding pages, a mass of material has been examined in
an effort to gain a better picture of the role of the water lily in Maya
Three broad fields have been partially investigated. These deal
art.
with Maya religious symbolism, intersite connections, and possible
trans-Pacific importation of the art form into the Maya area.
The most conclusive results have been reached in the field of religious symbolism, where the water lily forms part of a complex with
the Long-nosed God and beings perhaps related to the Serpent Bird.
The water lily emerges from the mouth and eye and grows from the
head, ear, nose, and neck of mythic beings that, for the most part,
seem to be the Serpent Bird and Long-nosed God. Less frequently,
possible water lilies grow from the head or from behind the ear of the
Long-nosed Gods, birds, and jaguars sometimes appear in
jaguar.
glyphs with the same floral associations that characterize them in
nonglyphic representations. The Long-nosed God, as the head variant form for the number 13, appears on occasion, at least, to have
exceptionally close relationships with the water lily. Patrons of the
months Pop and Pax also seem to have floral associations. For an
interpretative study of the water lily in Maya religious symbohsm,
the reader is referred to Thompson's recent work on Maya hierogljrphic writing (1950).

Suggestive material emerges which bears on the problems of intersite

Maya area, but it is

many additional art forms,

relationships within the

difficult to evaluate.

Detailed studies of

analyzed in the per-

by

more complete ceramic knowledge of interregional

relationships, are needed.
What, for instance, is the significance of
the very closely corresponding Yaxchilan and Chichen Itza representations shown in figures 2d and 2/? These sites are areally and
spective offered

temporally remote, yet nothing that corresponds very closely is known

elsewhere in the Maya area. One has the feeling of a vast storehouse
of religious and artistic conceptions into which the Maya stelae
To the extent
sculptors only occasionally and sporadically dipped.
that this is so, correspondences that seem to require specifically historical explanations may turn out to have been blind alleys.
Some indications may, nevertheless, point to connections between
Yucatan and the Usumacinta Basin that are of a more direct and
fundamental nature than, for example, those between Yucatan and
the Peten. The Chichen Itza and Yaxchilan representations just
As repeatedly
cited are a case in point (Entries 22, 152, fig. 2c?,/).
brought out, the correspondences between floral representations at

Chichen Itza and Palenque are exceptionally

close.

Chinkultic,

again in the western portion of the Maya area, displays a notable

resemblance to certain flowers at Chichen Itza. It may be of inter-

No.^ 34?^'

^^^'

WATER

est in this general

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

connection that Proskouriakoff and

121

Thompson

and calendric traits that rather

strikingly serve to link the Middle Usumacinta with the Puuc region
in northern Yucatan (Proskouriakoff and Thompson, 1947; Prohave pointed out

specific artistic

skouriakoff, 1950).

The major

sites differ interestingly in their portrayal of the water

There are indications that Palenque may have been a site of
unusual importance in working out certain basic artistic elaborations
Its tenuous dating, consequently, leaves an important
of this plant.
gap in our knowledge of the development of the water lUy motif,
Chichen Itza was the site where the water lily received its fullest, or
It may be permissible to characat least most extensive, treatment.
terize Quirigua as a site which drew heavily from several sources in its
portrayal of the water lily. Perhaps as a result, its treatment never

lily.

became as distinctive as, for example, that of Copan or Palenque.

But it was cosmopolitan, depicting a wide range of artistic and symCopan and Chichen Itza, more than the other sites,
bolic forms.
present a picture of chi-onological change. At first the jaguar and a
simple, mammiform type of flower were combined to make a favorite
subject at Copan; abruptly emphasis seems to have shifted to a disAt
tinctive, asymmetrical flower in repeated association with fish.
Chichen Itza, in Puuc times, a somewhat similar mammiform flower
occurred in connection with mask panels on architecture. With the
coming of representational sculpture in the Mexican Period, the
flower, in its depiction and associations, took on strong aspects of the
water lUy in the Great Period art of the Central region, particularly
that of the western portions of this area.
The suggestion of an Asiatic origin of the water-lily motif seems
to receive a certain support because of the striking artistic and
associational resemblances to the lotus in Hindu and Buddhist art.
It is difficult, however, to reconcile such an origin with the chronological trends in the development of the Maya water-lUy motif.
Its earliest examples are the least Indianlike, the late examples of
Chichen Itza being most like the Indian lotus. The elaborated
Chichen treatment of the water lily could not have moved in as a
fuU-blown complex from outside the Maya area, for it is too deeply
rooted in earlier artistic and symbolic conventionalizations. This
would also appear to be true of the only somewhat less Hindulike
water lily of Palenque. To explain the elaborated water lily as of
Asiatic derivation, it would appear necessary to postulate a complex
series of waves of fundamental influence which accounted for new
This seems, in fact, to be the position
traits on various time levels.
taken by Heine-Geldern and Ekholm. No middle course, which
might admit the possibility of a superficial artistic overlay but nothing

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

122

[Boll. 151

At the same

time, the water lily seems as

most other elements of the culture.
Whatever the actual historical events might have been, several

more, seems possible.

basically

Mayan

as do perhaps

points of theoretical interest suggest reasons why considerable similarity might be expected between the water lily in the art of the

Maya and

the lotus as depicted in India.

The

plants are virtually

among the larger

their quiet-water
tending
dominate
to
and more showy
in accordance
elaboration,
great
deal
of
assemblages.
A
botanical
seem a
might,
therefore,
treating
them,
canons
of
the
art
with the
especially
designs
are
Although
the
panel
probability.
of
matter
similar in Maya and Indian floral art, they represent elaborations of
The arts of India and of the Maya
basically simple geometric forms.
tended toward a cursive style. They were, in addition, highly symThe theocratic domination of the arts may, independently,
bolic.
identical in appearance.

They

are, furthermore,

flowers,

have been a spur to the creation of highly unrealistic situations,

wherein old elements within the culture were recombined in accordance with an ever-evolving speculative philosophy. From a different
point of view, Spinden discusses aspects of this process under the
terms "elaboration," "elimination," and, especially, "substitution"
(Spinden, 1913, pp. 38, 41-46). The highly arbitrary situations thus
appearing in the art would seem, in turn, to modify the details of
further religio-philosophic speculations. If such a functional relationship existed within the theocracies of the Old and New Worlds, the
independent creation of a few of the same arbitrary associations
would not seem so strange, after all. The "laws of chance" would take
on different connotations than have generally been given them.
Whether these varied considerations were actually operative, and if
But it seems unwise to
so their importance, is of course unknown.
ignore them in seeking explanations for the truly remarkable parallels
that must be admitted to occur.

NOTES ON THE TABLES

In table

1,

absences by

presences are indicated by "X", absences or probable

possible or deviant occurrences by "?", and the
,

presence of associated traits which do not appear in direct connecThe listing of the associated
tion with the vegetal form by "0".
traits is incomplete, only those cases being given which appear to
have a possible conceptual bearing. Absences are recorded when

such factors as erosion prevents knowledge of a trait's occurrence,

except when closely comparable material at the same site suggests
that the trait

is

present.

^'^^'

No.'^sfr"

WATER

LILY IN

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123

In summation (tables 2-6), the incidence of positive occurrences

given under the heading "(X)" and of possible occurrences under
the heading "(?)." Associated traits are not totaled.
In tables 1 and 3, flowers which do not conform to one of the 18

is

recognized t3rpes are also designated "?".

Forms which seem

to warrant listing

under different categories are

the categories in question. To indicate
this multiple tabulation, parentheses enclose the alternative readings.
Partly for this reason, the total number of questionable occm-rences
may be very great. The heaviness of the uncertain occurrences of
placed doubtfully under

all

head and ear as anatomical sources, for example, is due to the fact
that the growth of stems near the jaguar's head is listed doubtfully
under both head and ear instead of positivel}'' under only one of them.
Likewise, doubt occasionally exists whether a floral form grows from
the head of a deity or is worn as a "nonhuman headdress."
Deviant traits, furthermore, probably include forms which bear
no conceptual relationship to the trait complex under consideration.
Thus, the high incidence of doubtfully recorded floral forms emerging
from the mouth at Chichen Itza refers to speech scroll-like designs and,
therefore, may presumably be ignored for the purposes of the present
paper.

Similarly, the large

number

of doubtful occurrences of the

hands relates to the holding of paraphernalia that includes a floral

form without, however, the flower coming into direct contact with
the hands. This is a far cry from the scene shown in figure Id,
although a number of intermediate representations are known.
Deviant occurrences in the artistic elements and types give totals
which appear to be of more significance. This is because the forms,
while often divergent, nevertheless tend to vary around certain
central tendencies.
The "either-or" quality is, therefore, less than
in the case of the symbolic associations, except in the tabulation of

either

two or three sepals (Flower Elements

b,

c,

and, in functional

relationship, h).

Table 1 gives the raw data upon which subsequent tables are based.
"F" and "P," under the entry "Mask panel," indicates whether the
mask is in full face or profile. The date for each monument is given
according to the katun in which it falls. Sites are arranged alphaand the monuments within a site, when possible, chrono-

betically

Dates are based on Morley (1937-38) and, when indicated

Proskouriakoff (1950). Entry numbers 1 through
the lOO's refer arbitrarily to sculptures and murals; numerals in the
200's refer to ceramics and in the 300's to the codices.
An entry
may refer to one or more representations, as defined in footnote 8.
These representations may differ artistically, in ovei'-all type, or in
the indirect, "0" type of associations (in which case all the pertinent

logically.

by an

asterisk,

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

124
data are given).

They may not

differ,

[Bull. 151

however, in their symbolic

by "X" and "?").

For a closely united group of separate media, such as different lintels
in a single structure (YaxchUan) or different pages in a single codex,
a single entry is given if the above criteria are satisfied.
Table 2 gives the incidence of the artistic elements in the portrayal
The number of leaves, not of representations,
of the water lily leaf.
associations (for which presences are indicated

Occurrences are presented according to site totals.

Table 3 gives the incidence of the Flower Types, according to the
The individual flower is the unit to which the
totals for each site.

is

given.

numbers

refer.

Table 4 gives the incidence of Flower Elements, according to

totals.

Numbers

site

refer to flowers.

Table 5 gives the incidences of Over-all Types and the various

symbolic associations, according to
is

site totals.

The

representation

the unit to which the numbers usually refer, but the

monuments

number

of

depicting tabulated plant forms at each site are also given.

Table 6 also gives the incidences of the Over-all Types and the
Differing from previous listings, howIn this
ever, the occurrences are given chronologically not spatially.

various symbolic associations.

case, furthermore, the numbers refer to the total number of monuments rather than to that of the representations on them. The
number of sites and monuments depicting tabulated forms at a given

period are also shown.

Additional information on the reading of the tables

footnotes

5, 6,

and 8 and,

to 98, 100, 102, 113, 114.

106, 109 to 110.

in the text,

is given in
92 to 93, 97
see pages 98 to 99,

on pages 83 to

For untabulated

traits,

84,

Anthrop. Pap.
No. 34]

WATER

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Table

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Artistic elements of the water-lily leaf (site totals)

137

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

146

SOURCES OF ENTRIES (TABLE

[Bull. 151

1)

SCULPTURES AND MURALS

Bonampak, Palace 1, Room 1. Villagra Caleti; copy by Antonio Tejeda.
Bonampak, Stela 2. ProskouriakoflF, fig. 69a.
Calakmul, Stela 54. Ruppert and Denison, fig. 51c.
Calakmul, Stela 53. Ruppert and Denison, fig. 516.

1-12.

13-14.
15.
16.

Cancuen, Altar 1. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 96&.

Cancuen, Stela 1. Maler, 1908a, pi. 13, No. 1.
19-20. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber A.

17.

18.

pi.

21.

Chichen

35a,

Maudslay,

vol.

3,

b.

Temple

Itza,

of the Tigers,

Chamber

A, Inner (Painted) Chamber.

copy by Adela C. Breton.

Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple).

Seler, vol. 5, p. 325;

22.

Chichen

Itza,

Maudslay,

vol. 3, pi.

43c, d, vol. 4, pi. 93o.

Chichen
Chichen
25. Chichen
23.

Itza, Tigers,

24.

Itza, Tigers,

Temple

Itza,

Maudslay,
Maudslay,

E.
E.

of the Tigers,

vol. 3, pi. 51e, /.

vol. 3, pi.

45 (Nos. 1-6).

Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay,

46 (Nos. 7-10), 47 (Nos. 15-18).

Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple).

vol. 3, pis.

Chichen

26.

Chamber
Chamber

Itza,

Maudslay,

vol. 3, pis. 46-47, (Nos. 11-14).

Chichen

27.

Temple

Itza,

of the Tigers,

Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay,

of the Tigers,

Chamber E (Lower Temple).

vol. 3, pi. 48.

28.

Chichen

Temple

Itza,

Maudslay,

UB, 49B

(No. 13).
29. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay,
vol. 3, pis 46^ (No. 7), 47^1 (No. 14).
Breton, fig. 7.
30. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court).
31. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, figs. 5, 6.
Breton, pi. 4.
32. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court).
vol. 3, pis.

33.
34.
35.
36.

37.

Chichen
Chichen
Chichen
Chichen

Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, fig. 7, pL

Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, fig. 3.

Itza,
Itza,

Itza, Ball Court, Benches.

Palacios, 1937 a,

fig.

4.

41.

Temple of the Chac Mool. Morris, Chariot and Morris,

vol. 2, pi. 2SA-B.
Chichen Itza, Temple of the Chac Mool, Columns 1-5. Morris, Chariot and
Itza,

Morris, vol.

2, pis.

29-32, 35.

Temple

of the Chac Mool, South Bench, Side A.

Morris,
Chariot and Morris, vol. 2, pi. 133 (No. 3, 5).
Morris, Chariot and
39. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Warriors, Columns 8, 9.
Morris, vol. 2, pis. 48E, A9E.
40. Chichen Itza, North w^est Colonnade, Column 51. Morris, Chariot and Morris,
vol. 2, pi. 115S.
41. Chichen Itza, Northwest Colonnade, Dais.
Morris, Chariot and Morris,
38.

Chichen

42.

Chinkultic, Ball Court Marker.

Itza,

vol. 2, pi. 129.

43. Chinkultic, Stela 7.

44.

Copan, Stela

9.

Orozco Munoz,

Blom and La

Maudslay,

Farge,

fig.

figs. 89, 90.

365.

vol. 1, pi. 110c.

Copan

Stela 2, Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 101.

47. Copan, Second Ball Court, North and South Markers, Morley,
45. 46.

vol. 2,

End

Where only one

title

Piece, vol. 4,

End

1937-38,

Piece.

appears for an author in the Literature Cited, this

list

omits the publication date.

WATER

Nr34r"^^^'
48.

LILY IN

Copan, Second Ball Court,

End

BRANDS

MAYA ART

Middle Marker.

Morley,

1937-38,

vol.

3,

Piece.

Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 73a, (glyph

Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 105a.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 26.
49b. Copan, Stela A.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pis. 61, 996.
49c. Copan. Stela H.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 37^, B.
50. Copan, Stela B.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 375.
51. Copan, Stela B.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 37.4.
52. Copan, Stela B.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pis. 77, 82.
53. Copan, Stela N.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 79a, 6.
54. Copan, Stela N.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 94o.
55. Copan, Altar R.
Morley, 1920, p. 331.
56. Copan, Altar
Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 8.
57. Copan, Temple 11.
Maudslay, vol. 1, pis. 95, 96.
58. Copan, Altar T.
49.

147

Copan, Altar K.

49a. Copan, Stela

17).

6.

WK

59.

"Cozumel Stela 1"

(Chilib?) Lothrop, 1924, p. 46; cf. Proskouriakoff, p. 157.

5Pa. El Chicozapote, Lintel

59b. Etzna, Stela

60. 61. Ixkun, Stela 4.

62. Ixkun, Stela
63.

Maler, 1903,
fig.

pi. 37,

No.

1.

83d.

Morley, 1937-38, vol.

Maudslay,

1.

5, pi.

49a.

vol. 2, pi. 69.

La Amelia, Stela 1. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 2, fig.

La Honradez, Stela 4. Morley, 1937-38, vol.
La Mar, Stela 2. Maler, 1903, pi. 36, No. 1.

64. 65.
66.

1.

Proskouriakoff,

7.

48.
5, pi. 84/.

Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 88a.

Maler, 1908 b, pi. 33, No. 2.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 24, No. 8.
68. Palenque, House C.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 23 (glyphs A-3, S-4).
69. Palenque, House C.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pis. 10, 1 Id, e.
70. Palenque, House A.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 18.
71. Palenque, House B.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 43.
72. Palenque, House E.
73-75. Palenque, House E.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 44.
76. Palenque, House E.
Lothrop, 1929, pi. la.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 35.
77. Palenque, House D, Pier c.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 37.
78. 79. Palenque, House D, Pier f.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 36.
80. Palenque, House D, Pier d.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 47a.
81. Palenque, Enclosed Corridor.
Palacios, 1937 b, figs. 21, 46.
81a. Palenque, Tower.
81b. Palenque, Tomb Group IV. Ruz, n. d. (1950), figs. 67-77.
Palacios, 1937 b, fig. 36.
81c. Palenque, Temple of the Sun.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 88.
81d. Palenque, Sun.
Ruz, n. d. (1949), fig. 118.
81e-g. Palenque, Palace, North Gallery.
Ruz, n. d. (1950), pi. 8.
81h. Palenque, Temple of the Inscriptions.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 88.
82. 83. Palenque, Temple of the Sun.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 68.
84. Palenque, Temple of the Cress.
85-87. Palenque, Cross.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 71.
88. Palenque, Cross.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pis. 72, 76.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 81.
89. 90. Palenque, Temple of the Foliated Cross.
91. Palenque, Foliated Cross.
Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 82.
92. Par.aiso, Trough.
Lothrop, 1926, p. 60; Yde, p. 47.
93. Paraiso, Trough.
Yde, p. 47.
Maler, 1901, pi. 26, No. 2.
93a. Piedras Negras, Stela 33.
Maler, 1901, pi. 15, No. 3.
94. Piedras Negras, Stela 6.
Maler, 1901, pi. 17.
95. Piedras Negras, Stela 8.
67.

Naranjo, Stela

1.

67a. Naranjo, Stela 14.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

148

[Bull, 151

96. Piedras Negras, Stela 2.

Maler, 1901, pi. 15, No. 1.

Maler, 1901, pi. 20, No. 1.
98. Piedras Negras, Stela 10.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 130c.
98a. Piedras Negras, Stela 40.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 1356.
Maler, 1901, pi. 20, No. 2.
99. 100. Piedras Negras, Stela 14.
Maler, 1901, pi. 18, No. 2.
01, 102. Piedras Negras, Stela 13.
02a. Piedras Negras, Miscellaneous Sculptured Stone 16.
Kelemen, vol.
97. Piedras Negras, Stela 11.

pi.

2,

83a.

Rock. Morley, 1937-38, vol.

Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 178Da.

03. Piedras Negras, Sacrificial

03a. Quirigua, Stela H.

3, fig. 1176.

Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 366.

Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 26, No. 3.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 26, No. 4.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 25, No. 4.
07. Quirigua, Stela A.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 4.
08. Quirigua, Stela A.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 8.
09. Quirigua, Stela C.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 20.
10. Quirigua, Stela A, C.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 8, 20.
11. Quirigua, Zoomorph B.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 14 (Introducing Glyph),
pi. 15, No. 11.
12. Quirigua, Zoomorph B.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 14, No. 4.
13. Quirigua, Zoomorph B.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 14, No. 1.
14. Quirigua, Zoomorph B.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 14, No. 17.
15. 116. Quirigua, Zoomorph P.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 62.
17. Quirigua, Zoomorph P.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 64.
18. Quirigua, Zoomorph P.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 58, 64.
19. Santa Rita, Mound 1.
Gann, 1900, pi. 19, No. 4.
20. Santa Rita, Mound 1.
Gann, 1900, pis. 29, Nos. 5, 6; 30, No. 3.
21. Santa Rita, Mound 1.
Gann, 1900, pi. 29, Nos. 4, 5.
21a. Santa Rosa Xtampak, Palace. ProskouriakoflF, fig. 94a.
21b. Sayil, Structure 4B1, lintel.
Proskouriakoff, fig. 102d:.
03b,

c.

Quirigua, Stela F.

D.
05. Quirigua, Stela D.
06. Quirigua, Stela D.
04. Quirigua, Stela

22. Seibal, Stela 10.

Maler, 1908a, pi. 8.

Maler, 1908a, pi. 9.
Tikal, Stela 1.
Maler, 1911, pi. 13.
Tikal, Stela 20.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, fig. 18.
Tikal, Temple IV.
Maudslay, vol. 3, pi. 71.
Tulum, Temple of the Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pi. 7^1, B.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pi. 7A.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pi. 8.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pi. 7C.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pis. 7B, 8.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pis. 1B-D, G, 8.
Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pis. 7C, 8.
Uxul, Stela 6.
Ruppert and Denison, fig. 58d.

23. Seibal, Stela 11.

24.
25.
26.

27.
28.

29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.

34a. Xcalumkin, Initial Series Building.

ProskouriakoflF,

34b. Xcalumkin, Glyphic Group, North Building.

fig.

94c.

ProskouriakoflF,

fig.

Xcocha, Glyphic Band Building. ProskouriakoflF, fig. 100a.

34d. Xculoc, Sculptured Columns Building. ProskouriakoflF, fig. lOlh,
35. Xultun, Stela 18.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 78c.
36. Xultun, Stela 19.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 7Sd.
37. Xultun, Stela 5.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 76c.
38. Xultun, Stela 1.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 78a.
39. Xultun, Stela 3.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 796.

94/.

34c.

i.

WATER

^'^'^

No.'^ ll?*^"

LILY IN

MAYA ART

RANDS

149

140. Xultun, Stela 10.

Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 806.

Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 103c.
Yaxchilan, Structure 34, Lintel 4.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. llOo,
Yaxchilan, Structure 1, Lintel 6.
Maler, 1903, pi. 50.
Yaxchilan, Structure 42, Lintels 42, 43.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 96, 95a.
Yaxchilan, Structure 23, Lintel 26.
Maler. 1903, pi. 58.
Yaxchilan, Structure 20, Lintels 13, 14.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 81, 82.
147. Yaxchilan, Structure 54, Lintels 54, 58.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pis.
115a, 17SFd.
Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintels 1, 2.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 92, 93.
Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintels 2, 3.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pis. 93, 94,
Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintel 3.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 94.
Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintel 1.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 92.
Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Stela 7.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. lOOd.
Yaxchilan, Structure 55, Lintels 52, 53.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 1156, a.
Yaxchilan, Structure 55, Lintel 53.
Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pi. 115a.
Yaxchilan, Stela 4. Maler, 1903, pi. 70.
Yaxchilan, Stela 20.
Maler, 1903, pi. 78.

140a. Yaxchilan, Stela 27.

141.
142.
143.

144.
145.
146.
148.

149.
150.
151.
132.

153.
154.
165.
156.

CERAMICS
Chama. Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pi. 8.
Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pi. 22.
Chama. Butler, pi. 7r.
Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pi. 34, No. 175.
Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pi. 32, No. 171.

201, 202.

203, 204.
205.
206.

207.

Dieseldorff, vol. 3, pi. 40A, B, Nos. 96-98.

Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pi. 38, No. 190; Seler, vol. 3, pi. 3, No. 2

208. Chajcar.
209. Chajcar.
(p.

671)

Maudslay,

vol. 4, pi. 931.

210. Copan.

Spinden, fig. 101.

Kidder, Jennings and Shook,
211. Kaminaljuyu.
Kidder, Jennings and Shook,
212. Kaminaljuyu.
Gordon and Mason, pt. 2, pi. 30.
213. Nebaj.
214. Rio
215. Rio

Hondo.
Hondo.

Gann, 1918,
Gann, 1918,

pi. 18;

fig.

97k,

pi.

204d.

pt.

1, pis.

pi. 205f.

Gordon and Mason,

15, 16.

pi. 19a.

Kidder and Smith, fig. 45o, 6.

217-217b. San Agustin Acasaguastlan. Kidder and Smith, fig. 436.
Smith, pi. 5.
217c. Uaxactun.

216. San Agustin Acasaguastlan.

Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pis. 17, 18.

Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pi. 21.
Yucatan. Gordon and Mason, pt. 2, pis. 44,

217d. Yalloch.
218. Yucatan.
219, 220.

221. Yucatan.

Dieseldorf, vol.

222. Yucatan.

Spinden,

fig.

3, pi. 7,

No.

45.

10.

79.

CODICES
301-317. Page numbers are given for

all

entries in table

1.

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS'"
Figure

1.

a,

Maudslay,
>"

Coomaraswamy,
vol. 4, pi. 35.

Where only one

title

d,

pi. 38, No. 2.

Maudslay, vol.

6,

Maudslay,

vol. 4, pi. 37.

c,

3, pi. 46.

appears for an author in the Literature Cited, this list omits the publitation date.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

150

[Bull. 151

2. a, Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 26, No. 3 (lines showing vine, flower, and
heads have been emphasized), h, Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. 37A. c, Dieseldorff,
d, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 93o.
vol. 1, pi. 22, No. 138.
e, Maudslay, vol. 3,
pi. 49B.
/, Spinden, fig. 171.
Figure 3. o, Gann, 1900, pi. 29, Nos. 4-5. 6, Lothrop, 1924, pi. 8. c, Lothrop,
d, Dieseldorff, vol. 3, pi. 7, No. 10.
e, Maudslay, vol. 3, pi. 51.
1924, pi. 8.
h, Dresden 65a.
i, Spinden,
g, Lothroj), 1929, pi. la.
/, Maudslay, pi. 58c.

Figure

fig.

88.

Figure

4. a, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 23 (glyph B-4).

6, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 82
(glyph C-14). c, Maudslay, vol. 1, pi. HOC (glyph A-5). d, Spinden, fig. 185.
e, Seler, 1902-23, vol. 5, fig. 15b (p. 210).
/, Kidder, Jennings, and Shook,
fig. 98d.
g, Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, fig. 97A;.

h, Gann, 1918, pi. 19a.

a, Palacios, fig. 41.
c, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi.
Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 64. e, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 93?. /, Dieseldorff,
h, Maudslay, vol. 4,
vol. 1, pi. 22, No. 138.
g, Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pi. 8.
i, Maudslay, vol. 3, pi. 46A.
pi. 44.
Figure 6. a, Maudslay, vol. 2, pi. 14 (Introducing Glyph), b, Maudslay, vol. 1,
c, Dresden 13a.
d, Morley, 1937-38, vol. 2, fig. 48.
e, Spinden, fig. 79.
pi. 77.
h, Maudslay, vol. 3,
g, Maudslay, vol. 3, pi. 48.
/, Maudslay, vol. 4, pi. 10.

Figure
18.

5.

d,

pi. 45.

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Butler, Mart.

In The

Maya

1880. Die Maya-Handschrift der Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Dresden.

Ed.

1940.

pottery sequence from the Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

and their neighbors, pp. 250-267. New York.

CoDEX Dresden (Dresdensis).

by E. Forstemann.

Leipzig.

Codex Madrid (Tro-Cortesianus).

1933. The Madrid Maya codex.
Maya Soc,
Codex Perez (Peresianus).

Publ. No. 21.

Baltimore.

1909. Codex Perez, Maya-Tzental.

Point Loma.
CoNARD, Henry S.
Carnegie Inst. Washington, Publ. No.
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4.

COOMARABWAMY, AnANDA K.
1931. Yaksas. Part
Dieseldorff, Erwin P.

II.

Freer Gall. Art, Smithsonian Inst.

1926-33. Kunst und religion der

Vol. 3.

Ekholm, Gordon
1950. Is

Mayavolker.

Vols.

Publ. No. 3059.

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2.

Berlin.

Hamburg.

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American Indian culture Asiatic?

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Natural Hist.,

vol. 59,

No.

8,

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Gann, Thomas, W.

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northern Honduras.
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A history of ornament. Vol. 1, ancient and medieval; vol. 2,

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