This unique and most spectacular type of Costa
Rican stone metate is called the "flying-panel"
metate, so named for its unique scenic panel
beneath the bowl of the metate. Ceremonial
metates were the most important objects of their
time. These ritual items were used in the burial
ceremonies of important high-ranking
individuals in society. The metate in every day
life had the transformative power to change a
seed or a kernel into flour. Because of this
power, it became a symbol of transformation in
the human life cycle. Apparently, a primary
function of these metates in the burial ritual was
as a burial platform. The juxtaposition of a
human head with the grinding plate equated the
head with the completion of the agricultural
cycle, since the human head was represented as
the seed of the human life cycle. The radical
expansion in the imagery of the metate in the
form of relatively realistic zoomorphic sculpture
further elaborates on this theme, although the
imagery itself is still poorly understood. In this
striking piece the central figure in the flying
panel is a monkey perched atop the back of a
feline. The monkey's outstretched arms hold a
metate leg in one hand and the upswept tail of
the feline in the other. The stylized faces of both
the monkey and the feline emphasize ferocity by
way of their wide snarling expressions, exposing
N-shaped incisors and teeth. Vulture-like birds
grasping human heads hang from the outside of
the tripod legs. Clearly, this masterpiece of
ancient sculptural artistry is unequaled. One
legacy of these ceremonial metates was the later
development of the first freestanding sculpture
in the region. The legacy of this work of art
continues into the present, for to behold it is to
revere it, just as it was revered so many centuries
ago.
- (PF.2293)
|
