Producer unknown to us
Sacrificial vessel
Americas, Mexico, Veracruz, El Tajín
Mid-20th century
Clay, painted
Werner and Vera Hartwig (Ethnologists) acquired this vessel during a teaching and research trip to Mexico 1975–77
Donated to the museum by Werner Hartwig in 1977
MAm 7821
This sacrificial vessel or incense burner in the shape of a long-stemmed goblet was handmade from clay in a special drifting technique. It is brown, but painted with four bands around the stem, the wall and the upper rim. Such pieces were used to hold food offerings on the graves of the deceased for the festivities around the Day of the Dead.
Werner and Vera Hartwig collected this vessel during their research trip to Mexico 1975–77. One of the focal points of their trip was to study the living and social conditions and the acculturation of Indigenous groups in Mexico. This idea was in line with the Marxist disciplinary interest of GDR ethnology, but especially with the research outline in Leipzig, which focused on the development of hierarchies and class societies in world history and on economic and social issues in history and ethnology.
Frank Usbeck