Palos Mayan Collection

Mayan Stelae

The Palos Mayan Collection includes 90 reproductions of pre-Columbian stone carvings originally created by the Mayan and Pipil people traced back to 879 A.D.

The Palos Mayan Collection sculptures are created by master sculptor Manuel Palos from scholar Joan W. Patten’s casts and rubbings of the original artifacts in Guatemala.  Patten received official permission from the Guatemalan government to create casts and rubbings of original Mayan carvings and bequeathed her replicas to collaborator Manuel Palos.  Some of the originals stelae were later stolen or destroyed, leaving Patten’s castings and rubbings as their only remaining record.  These fine art-quality Maya Stelae reproductions are available for purchase by museums, universities, and private collectors through Palos Studio.  Manuel Palos developed and uses a proprietary material called DecoCastᵀᴹ to create these replicas. You are invited to book a virtual tour or an in-person tour through palossculpture@gmail.com

For more information on Joan Patten and other documentation click here:

Aguateca is in the southwestern part of the Department of the Peten, Guatemala, about 15 kilometers south of the village of Sayaxche, on a ridge on the western side of Late Petexbatun.

Bilbao is in the Pacific Coast plains area of south Guatemala, in the Department of Escuintla.  The ruins are located on the sugar finca (plantation) Las Ilusiones, near the town of Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa, about 88 kilometers to the southwest of Guatemala City.

Ceibal is in the southwestern part of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, about 15 kilometers east of the village of Sayaroche, on a rise above the Pasion River.

Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, being founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region, particularly the Pasión River.[2] In AD 648 Dos Pilas broke away from Tikal and became a vassal state of Calakmul, although the first two kings of Dos Pilas continued to use the same emblem glyph that Tikal did.[3][4] It was a predator state from the beginning, conquering Itzan, Arroyo de Piedra, and Tamarindito. Dos Pilas and a nearby city, Aguateca, eventually became the twin capitals of a single ruling dynasty.[5] The kingdom as a whole has been named the Petexbatun Kingdom, after Lake Petexbatún, a body of water draining into the Pasión River.[6]

Dos Pilas gives an important glimpse into the great rivalries and political strife that characterized the Late Classic. Much of the history of Dos Pilas can now be reconstructed, with a level of detail that is almost unparalleled in the Maya area.[7]

On June 12, 1970, the site was declared a National Monument according to Article 1210 of the Guatemalan Ministry of Education.[8]

El Baul is in the Pacific Coast plans area of southern Guatemala, in the department of Escuintla.  The ruins are located on a sugar finca (plantation) nears the town of Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa, about 88 kilometers to the southwest of Guatemala City

Itsimte is in the central part of the Department of Petén, Guatemala, about 20 kilometers directly west of the town of Flores and Lake Petén Itza.

Ixlu is in the central part of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, at the eastern end of Lake Petern Itza.

Ixtutz is in the southeastern part of the Department of Petén, Guatemala, about 8 kilometers to the southwest of the village of Dolores.

Jimbal is an archaeological/prehistoric site in Guatemala.  Jimbal is situated south of El Desprecio.

Kaminaljuyu, once a large and important highland center, is now within the limits of Guatemala City, nearly obliterated and completely surrounded by housing.

La Amelia is in the southwestern part of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, to the west of the village of Sayaxche, on the Pasion River close to the point where the Pasion flows into the Usumacinta River.

Piedras Negras is on the western edge of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, on the Usumacinta River, about 150 kilometers northwest of the town of Flores and Lake Peten Itza.

Polol- Polol is in Peten a  department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of ... Motul de San José, La Muerta, Muralla de León, Naachtun, Nakbe, Naranjo, El Peru, Piedras Negras, Polol, El Porvenir, Punta de Chimino, Río Azul.

Quiriguá is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately 3 square kilometers (1.2 sq mi) along the lower Motagua River,[2] with a ceremonial center about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the north bank.[3] During the Maya Classic Period (AD 200–900), Quiriguá was situated at the juncture of several important trade routes. The site was occupied by 200, construction on the acropolis had begun by about 550, and an explosion of grander construction started in the 8th century. All construction had halted by about 850, except for a brief period of reoccupation in the Early Postclassic (c. 900 – c. 1200). Quiriguá shares its architectural and sculptural styles with the nearby Classic Period city of Copán, with whose history it is closely entwined. [4]

Tikal, a national park and the most important archaeological site in Guatemala, is in the northern part of the Department of Petén, about 65 kilometers north of the city of Flores.

Yaxha is a large site overlooking Lake Yaxha in the northeastern part of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, some 65 kilometers northeast of the city of Flores.

The rubbings in the Palos Mayan Collection are created from the original molds that Joan Patten created from the original surface of every monument she replicated.  

The technique used by Palos to create the rubbings is the same technique created by Patten.  Oil pigments lightly tamped on stretched dyed cloth. The combination of colored fabrics and inks produces a polychromatic blueprint of the carved relief with crisp, well-defined lines outlining both figures and hieroglyphic passages.  The finished work often looks more like a painting or a batik than a traditional rubbing.

Catalogue © 2021 Manuel Palos; Mayan Stelae Reproductions © 2021 Manuel Palos; Patten Collection Mayan Stelae Rubbings and Casts © 1982 Manuel Palos (by Assignment) Reg. Cert. VAu000045155. Joan W. Patten was an influential American sculptor and scholar of Mayan art, who was one of a rare few US citizens to receive official permission from the Guatemalan government between 1968 and 1985 to make castings and rubbings of rare Mayan stelea and artifacts with great cultural and historical significance. She was permitted to export them to the United States and bequeathed her replicas to collaborator Manuel Palos.