Rectangular fragment of a seal or stamp with grooved decoration depicting a feathered serpent or reptile.

The figure is surrounded by concentric circles and rectangles framed by what could be interpreted as feathers.

It has a rectangular handle on the rear and traces of red paint.

Length:: 7.9 cm
Width: 7 cm

These are portable objects that combine the art of sculpture (through the relief carving of their features) and printed decoration (through their imprint with paint or in relief). In addition to being used directly for printing designs on surfaces and body decoration, seals possessed ideographic symbols through which messages could be communicated.

It is possible that seals were also made with perishable materials (such as wood, bone, and plant fibers), but those that have been preserved to this day in the Maya region are mostly made of baked clay and stone. Their shapes are varied: flat, circular, squared, rectangular, convex and concave, with a spike on the back as a handle or a notch to hold with two fingers. Another category is the cylindrical or tubular seals, fully decorated and with a hole in the center to insert a stick and roll them over a surface. Finally there are those that show the two-dimensional shape of the decorative element (animals, flowers, faces, etc.) with the edge cut.

Stamps were used to paint or print on almost all surfaces, including body decoration worn by both men and women. Likewise, they could have been used in commerce and probably as emblems of social distinction. They have a wide variety of designs and motifs, which include the animal world (zoomorphs), plants and flowers (phytomorphs), parts of the human body (anthropomorphs), imaginaries (abstract symbols) and a great variety of fretworked and geometric shapes. In other cases there are examples with figures of deities. All of these forms had a strong symbolic aspect related to the surrounding nature and their conception of the universe.

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

2. “EXPO TATTOO 2016”. Alliance Française, Guatemala City (October 20 and 21, 2016).

3. Object exhibited at the XXII Paiz Art Biennale as part of the work of artist Oscar Santillán at the FUNBA Museum, Antigua Guatemala (May 6 – June 6, 2021).

4. “MASTERWORKS BY THE PRE-COLUMBIAN ARTIST.” La Ruta Maya Foundation, Guatemala City (November 6, 2024 to May 31st, 2025)

Paredes Maury, Sofía. 2011. “Designs and Iconographic Motifs in Pre-Columbian Seals” in “Pre-Hispanic Seals, Cultural Heritage of Guatemala” Magazine of the GALERÍA GUATEMALA Series. Editorial Galería Guatemala (Year 13, number 39). G&T Continental Foundation. Guatemala. pp. 52-63.

Paredes Maury, Sofía. 2014. “El Arte de los Sellos Mayas“. Revista PubliRUTA No. 3 (28 noviembre- 11 diciembre 2014). Consorcio CRN, Guatemala.