01 Photograph Gallery

02 Object Information

Description

Polychrome clay| Pacific Coast of Guatemala (Tiquisate and La Gomera, Escuintla)

Incense burner with pedestal base and decorated lid, crafted in clay and belonging to the Teotihuacan style. The lid frames the face of a unique figure with two faces fused into one, each looking slightly in opposite directions. This configuration clearly represents the concept of duality, a recurring theme in Mesoamerican worldview.

The right face (on the observer’s left) appears expressionless, while the left face (on the observer’s right) suggests a subtle smile, marked by a slightly raised mouth corner. The figure wears a headdress adorned with flowers and butterflies, as well as a necklace composed of bands of circular beads and a central medallion.

Due to its distinctive features, this piece is known as “La Siamesa” (the Siamese), and stands as a remarkable example of the symbolic and aesthetic complexity of ritual art from Guatemala’s Pacific coastal region.

*Donation by Mr. Hector Santamarina Herrera

Period

CLASSIC (150/200 A.D.-900 A.D.) Early Classic (150/200- 650 AD).

Provenance

Pacific Coast of Guatemala

Medium / Material

Clay

Technique

Appliqué / application, Grooving, Incised, Modeled, Molded, Painting

Dimensions

Total Height (a y b): 85 cm

Height a (lid); 58.3 cm; Width a: 19 cm
Diameter a: 33 cm

Height b (base): 26.3 cm; Diámetro b: 33 cm

03 References and Exhibitions

References to similar objects

Similar objects have been found on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, especially in the area of ​​Tiquisate and La Gomera, Escuintla, dating for the Early Classic
period, especially from 350 – 550 A.D. (Reents-Budet; Headrick and Bishop, 2017)

Bove, Frederick J. 2000. “Teotihuacan y la Costa del Pacífico de Guatemala: La ideología de estructura política”. En XIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1999 (editado por J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo, B. Arroyo y A.C. de Suasnávar), pp.117-131. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala (versión digital).

Reents-Budet, Dorie; Annabeth Headrick and Ronald Bishop. 2017 “Entangled Ideologies on the Pacific Coast: the Teotihuacan-style Maya censers from the Department of Escuintla, Guatemala”. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 431290)

Exhibitions

1.“TREASURES OF THE MAYA SPIRIT”
LA Art & Antique Show, LA Convention Center, California
January 4–9, 2014

2. “TREASURES OF LA RUTA MAYA”
Sala Quiroa, Paseo de los Museos, Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Guatemala. August 30 – November 9, 2014

3. “TREASURES OF THE MAYA SPIRIT THROUGH TIME” ARTECENTRO Graciela Andrade de Paiz, Historic Center, Guatemala City May 21 – October 19, 2015

4. Lobby of Seguros de Occidente
November 2015 – November 2016

5. Piece exhibited in the lobby of the Hyatt Centric Hotel Guatemala

6. “THE WORLD TREE” (24th Paiz Art Biennial) within the “SELF-HYBRIDATIONS” exhibition by ORLAN. Spanish Cooperation Training Center, Antigua Guatemala (November 5, 2025 to February 15, 2026). General Curator: Eugenio Viola. October 7, 2020 – April 4, 2025

Publications

“The Maya Guard Millenary Secrets”
Prensa Libre, Wednesday, September 17, 2014. Page 44.

Paredes Maury, Sofia. April 2019. “A Double-faced Teotihuacan Style Incensario.” MEXICON, Journal of Mesoamerican Studies (Vol. XLI, No. 2). Germany. pp. 30–32.

Reents-Budet, Dorie; Annabeth Headrick and Ronald Bishop. 2017. “Entangled Ideologies on the Pacific Coast: the Teotihuacan-style Maya censers from the Department of Escuintla, Guatemala”. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 431290)