Smoking World

Pre-Columbian objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

6th century Maya mirror-bearer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wooden Maya artifacts are incredibly rare, in large part because wood deteriorates quickly in warm, humid environments. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

6th century Maya mirror-bearer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wooden Maya artifacts are incredibly rare, in large part because wood deteriorates quickly in warm, humid environments. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Way back in the day, my first museum internship—first museum position of any kind—was in the Met’s Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (AAOA). Although the collection is united more by Western colonialism than any intrinsic cultural, philosophical, religious, physical, temporal, or geographic similarities, the diverse works sheltered beneath AAOA’s too-broad umbrella are nonetheless incredible, if often overlooked by hurried visitors. Indeed, one of the more disappointing things to have not changed in the almost 20 years since I worked there is the fact that most tourists treat the AAOA galleries as little more than a corridor between Classical and Modern art, rather than as a destination unto themselves.

Of course, the relative lack of public interest also makes exploring these galleries all the easier for those of us who are fascinated by their contents. On my most recent, too-brief visit this August, I got to spend a little time with some of my favorite items from the pre-Columbian section, and thought I would share some (okay, a lot) of them here.

The Met has most of its collection online, usually with multiple images and longer descriptions than I’m providing. I’ve linked to the individual objects in my captions for those seeking additional information.

7th–8th century Maya “canine ornament” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th–8th century Maya “canine ornament” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

8th century, Maya vessel with a “mythological scene” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

8th century, Maya vessel with a “mythological scene” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th or 8th century, Maya scepter showing a figure in profile in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th or 8th century, Maya scepter showing a figure in profile in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th century, Maya crocodile rattle from Mexico in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th century, Maya crocodile rattle from Mexico in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec yoke, 10th–4th century BCE, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec yoke, 10th–4th century BCE, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Escuintla 5th–7th century Teotihuacan-style “host figure” from Guatemala in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Escuintla 5th–7th century Teotihuacan-style “host figure” from Guatemala in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th–8th century Jaina-style Maya “costumed figure” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th–8th century Jaina-style Maya “costumed figure” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec mask fragment, 10th–6th century BCE, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec mask fragment, 10th–6th century BCE, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

10th–13th century, Mixtec tecali vessels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

10th–13th century, Mixtec tecali vessels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Pair of Maya earflare frontals from the 7th–8th century in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Pair of Maya earflare frontals from the 7th–8th century in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th–8th century Maya vessel depicting the rain god, Chahk, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th–8th century Maya vessel depicting the rain god, Chahk, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Gold Aztec labret in the shape of a serpent with an articulated tongue, 13th–early 16th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Gold Aztec labret in the shape of a serpent with an articulated tongue, 13th–early 16th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Isla de Sacrificios vulture bowl, 13th–15th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Isla de Sacrificios vulture bowl, 13th–15th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

10th–6th century BCE Olmec eagle transformation figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

10th–6th century BCE Olmec eagle transformation figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

8th century Maya relief in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

8th century Maya relief in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Maya deity head pendant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Maya deity head pendant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Veracruz canine vessel and masked figure from the 7th–9th centuries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Veracruz canine vessel and masked figure from the 7th–9th centuries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec seated figure, 12th–9th century BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Olmec seated figure, 12th–9th century BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th or 8th century Maya vessel depicting the rain god, Chahk, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

7th or 8th century Maya vessel depicting the rain god, Chahk, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Nahua deity head, 13th–early 16th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Nahua deity head, 13th–early 16th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Diving back into the Yucatán and the query trenches

Overcast day in Coba. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Overcast day in Coba. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

I’m currently in that cumbersome stage between starting the next book while needing to find a home for the last one. My experience with Pitch Slam at the Writer’s Digest Conference was a partial success. During the pitch itself, I had five out of five requests for more information. Of those, I’ve heard back from three, each of which gave me thoughtful and encouraging it’s-not-you-it’s-me rejections (yep, that really is a thing). And honestly, although I would of course love to have found my perfect match at the conference and thereby bypass the painful awkwardness of cold-querying, I’m actually grateful for the practice and to those who passed because they knew the book wasn’t a good fit for them. I’m especially grateful to the three who took the time to tell me why, while also encouraging me to keep querying. The whole experience has helped me reevaluate who I need to approach and given me a basic letter that I am now going back and revising as I research agents.

At the moment, I’m finding the greatest challenge to be efficiently shifting between the headspaces of my last book, which is set in an environment deeply indebted to the Yucatán; my still-formulating next book, which is set on the same world but on a different continent, in a different time, and in a very different culture; and the book I’m currently editing for Drum Tower Press, which is set in Ming Dynasty China. The effect reminds me of the temporary paralysis I felt as a kid when I was tasked with cleaning my room and had no idea where to start. But now, as then, there is no way out but through.

To help me with these shifts, I’m revisiting my pictures of the places that inspired the book I need to query, and thought I would share a few of them here.

Loltun cave. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Loltun cave. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Monkeys in Calakmul. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Monkeys in Calakmul. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Ruins of tropical Kohunlich. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Ruins of tropical Kohunlich. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Temple of the Masks, Kohunlich. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Temple of the Masks, Kohunlich. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Skull in the ballcourt of Coba. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Skull in the ballcourt of Coba. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Anole at Becán. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Anole at Becán. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Trees at Labna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Trees at Labna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Long-nosed masks at Xlapak. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Long-nosed masks at Xlapak. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

El Castillo at Chichén Itzá. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

El Castillo at Chichén Itzá. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.