I'm David

(6th century, Classic Maya, Guatemala or Mexico) This carving is what is known as the Mirror-Bearer, a rear object that was used by the Maya. To hold a mirror, in between his folding arms and crisscrossed legs. The mirror that sits on his lap is either a square mirror or a rounded one. Made from either of these two materials, obsidian or pyrite. While the Mirror-Bearer is made from wood and was rubbed with red powder to give this piece the color it has. The Mirror-Bearer would have been brighter when first created, but there are still remains of this red color within the figure's cloth and jewelry.  Being made from wood, some of the material has either been destroyed or had deteriorated throughout the years from being made. Other details on the Mirror-Bearer show a necklace that could have been a replica of a jade stone necklace. Jade was important to the Mayans, as it had spiritual and religious significance. There are also earrings that show a reptile figure. As well as having an

(Peru, Jequitipeque Valle, 15th-5th century B.C.E.)  This is the Feline-Headed Bottle, it's a ceramic vase that could've been used for rituals or ceremonies. When this bottle was discovered, they found it in Peru and thought it belonged to the Inka, who lived in Peru. Except that's not the case, this vase belonged to a tribe or a subgroup called Cupisnique due to its design. Thinking this vase originated from a culture called Chavin, as they both have similar aspects to their art.  The image below shows one of the Chavin Stirrup Vessels; if you look at both you can see they have many teeth in the same orientation. With both having one eye in the center looking up. For this reason, archeologists thought the Feline-Headed Bottle was created after this Chavin vessel.  But that's not the case, instead, those roles are switched. Even though it's so old it would make sense there is lots of information on this piece, sadly we don't know much. Only certain facts that ag

(Golden llama figurine, Inka, left)  (Maize cobs, Inka c. 1440-1533, right) Gardens from everywhere, always have a certain glow to them, that make them unique, beautiful, and exciting. This one such garden takes the cake, this garden was made of gold and silver. Its name is Qorikancha (Golden Temple) in the Inca capital Cusco. This impressive garden held many items; such as miniature llamas, corn, flowers, and people all made of gold and silver (smarthistory.org). With some objects containing other metals like copper, while some were metal alloys. The image to the left shows a miniature 6cm golden llama. There were also other figurines that stood 6cm tall, made of gold or silver. The image to the right shows a  life-size piece of corn stock or  Maize Cob; being an alloy containing silver and copper. The corn cob is hollow, the ear of the corn is shown as if breaking through the husk, ready to harvest. Although these two works of art have survived along with some others;  the Spanish ra

(Jane Alexander, Butcher Boys, Cape Town, 1985-1986) Many artworks in our world amaze us in every way possible. This piece of artwork truly surprised me, by the presence of discomfort these three figures give off. Even though they each have human qualities and sit on a wooden bench. The fact that animal parts have merged within them, makes us feel uneasy. The artist behind these humanoid figures is Jane Alexander, she created them by using real animal bones and horns, but the body was made from reinforced plaster. The Butcher Boys was created and finished between 1985 and 1986 in Cape Town.  (Jane Alexander, Butcher Boys, Cape Town, 1985-1986) When you first notice the figures, you might be wondering if they had a human face before or if that was how they were designed. They also reflect some poster aspects of Hellenistic art such as the Boxer At Rest by Apollonius. If you look closely at the eyes of each of them, they're all black. Which I think shows a deeper meaning to what the

(Lydenburg Heads, Lydenburg, South Africa ca. 500 A.D.) These heads are known as the Lydenburg Heads, each head dates back to about 500 A.D. Even though they're so old, there is little known about them. Except for this fact, these heads are the earliest forms of iron age art, south of the equator. But how were they found; surprisingly a ten-year-old boy named Ludwig von Bezing in 1957 discovered them. After playing on his father's ranch, he noticed some iron fragments in the dirt, at first he didn't pay too much attention to them. Ten years later after studying archeology Bezing returned to discover an important artifact. That is now known as the Lydenburg Heads, named after the location they were found.  While there is little information on these heads, the African people believe that these heads were used for religious purposes or ceremonies for children. Based on the size of these heads which are like tiny helmets that only children could use. Possibly, for inducting the