Maya News Updates 2010, No. 16: Now Showing - "Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea"
On March 27, 2010, the exhibition "Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea" opened at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. The website of the museum provides a short introduction to the exhibition:

Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea
On view March 27, 2010 to July 18, 2010
Located in the: Special Exhibition Galleries
Surrounded by the sea in all directions, the ancient Maya viewed their world as inextricably tied to water. More than a necessity to sustain life, water was the vital medium from which the world emerged, gods arose and ancestors communicated. Over 90 works, many never before seen, offer exciting new insights into Maya culture that focus on the sea as a defining feature of the spiritual realm and the inspiration for the finest works of art. Fiery Pool was organized by Daniel Finamore, The Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum and Stephen D. Houston, The Dupee Family Professor of Social Science and Professor of Archaeology at Brown University. The exhibition is scheduled to travel to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Saint Louis Art Museum.
This exhibition, organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., was made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Because democracy demands wisdom. Additional support provided by ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations). Exhibition supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Images
Lidded bowl with the Iguana-Jaguar eviscerating humans, circa AD 500. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes – Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Museo Fuerte de San Miguel, Campeche, Mexico. Becan, Mexico. Ceramic. 13 ⅜ x 19 ⅜ x 19 ⅜ inches (34 x 49.3 x 49.3 cm)
Incense burner with a deity with aquatic elements, AD 700–750. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes – Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Museo de Sitio de la Zona Arqueológia de Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. Palenque, Mexico. Ceramic. 46 ¾ x 22 ¼ x 7 ⅞ inches (118.5 x 56.5 x 20 cm)
Plate with the Maize God dancing above water, AD 700–800. Princeton University Art Museum, Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921 Fund. Peten region, Guatemala. Ceramic. 14 ¾ x 14 ¾ x 4 ½ inches (37.5 x 37.5 x 11.4 cm). Photograph by Bruce M. White.
Vessel with the face of an old man, AD 900–1250. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala CityJutiapa region, Guatemala. Tohil Plumbate ceramic. 5 ¾ x 4 ¾ x 4 ⅞ inches (14.8 x 12 x 12.5 cm). Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, photograph © 2009 Jorge Pérez de Lara.
Jade sculpture of a deity, AD 550 – 650National Institute of Culture and History, Belize; Photograph courtesy National Institute of Culture and History, Belize. Altun Ha, Belize. Jadeite. 5 ⅞ x 4 ⅜ x 5 ¾ inches (14.9 x 11.2 x 14.8 cm).
(Source of text and images Peabody Essex Museum)