The ancient Maya civilization flourished for many centuries — from before the birth of Christ until the Spanish Conquest — in Guatemala, Honduras, and adjoining parts of Mexico. This handsome volume contains over 40 beautiful renderings of Maya designs found on building facades, lintels, and bas-relief plaques; on painted vases and other ceramics, ball-court markers, funerary vases, stelae (stone markers); designs drawn from architectural sculpture and other monumental carvings, murals, illustrated books (codexes), and miscellaneous artifacts.
Wilson G. Turner, an artist/archaeologist engaged in research on Maya hieroglyphs, has carefully rendered each design from authentic pieces in museums, private collections, and at original sites in Guatemala and Mexico. He has also supplied a brief introduction to Maya design and captions for each plate, including the latest estimates of date, with identification of gods, legends, and other information.
Artists, designers, and illustrators will find Maya Designs a rich source of graphic ideas and inspiration—useful for myriad projects. Colorists will enjoy bringing their own conceptions of color and tone to these ancient motifs.