A Maya Figural Rattle, Jaina, Late Classic, ca. A.D. 550-950

depicting a dwarf with distinctive bloated torso, containing tiny pellets as rattle, with attenuated straight legs, the round cheeked face with eyes lowered to a crescent, and wearing a thick twisted turban and deer as headdress, long cloth earrings and meager loincloth tied around the hips, areas of Maya blue pigment.

Acquired in the 1980s

mayavase.com, Pre-Columbian Portfolio, K665

For similar dwarf rattles possibly showing pathological symptoms associated with liver disease see Schmidt et. al. eds. (1998: cat. no. 341) and (Corson 1976: fig. 14b).
Dwarfs are shown in palace scenes as important courtiers often holding the divinatory mirror before a seated ruler.