K5053 is a carved vessel from the Late Classic Period of the Maya currently in the collection of the De Young Museum. I suspect that this vessel is from Chochola, as it seems to be done in that style. The main feature of this vessel is the two carved rectangular sections with deity heads within. One features the head of the Pax God, and the other features the head of the Jaguar War God. These two deities often appear together, even when they are not part of a larger scene such as The Vase of the Seven Gods, the Star War Vase, or K9152.

The head on the left is of the Pax God (Figure 2). He can be recognized by his missing lower jaw, large eye with a curled pupil, singular T-shaped tooth, and the jaguar paw he has as an ear. While both heads seem to be surrounded by fire, the flames around the Pax God emanate from the jewelry in front of his nose.

The second head is that of the Jaguar War God (Figure 3). He appears with his standard iconographic features, including a singular T-shaped tooth, a large eye with curled pupil, a looped fire cord around his eye, a jaguar ear, and bundled hair. Like the Pax God, the Jaguar War God’s head is also surrounded by fire, the difference being that it seems to originate from his neck, almost as if it were blood pouring out of a decapitated head.

Both scenes also feature a combination of symbols and objects at the bottom. Some of these resemble seeds and jewels; the ones below the Pax God’s head seem to be more detailed than those below the Jaguar War God. At the top of the vessel is a band of glyphs (Figure 1). While most, if not all, of these resemble real glyphs, the order in which they are placed appears to be somewhat random.

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.