The shimmering red side of this table is constructed of exotic paduk wood, which glistens in the sun with golds, yellows, oranges, bright red and purple streaks. There really is nothing like it. An astonishing quality of exotic woods is their oil content, which after being sanded and sealed, gives a deep glossy shimmering finish that is unmatched in any other wood in the world. The coffee table is outlined around the top by lacewood, which looks like a jaguar's skin! Purpleheart wood is inlaid into the top as well as made int the three descending stairs into the underworld inside the table. Cocobolo, a dark, rich brown wood with light streaks in it, frames the very outer upperside edges of the table. The central pedestal is cherry and mahogany. Mahogany also lines the inside of the table where Pacal resides cut and carved in hard rock maple. This art piece has approx. 5,000 pieces.
Perhaps the finest description of the Tomb of Pacal sarcophagus lid is in Linda Schele's book, The Blood of Kings, pp. 282f. The image I reproduced is of Pacal's death and his fall into the underworld, hence his odd orientation, which indicates his transition from life to death. The bone attatched to his nose signifies that in his calm repose he also carries the seed for rebirth. The bone is the seed of Pacal's rebirth. He is falling into the Maw of the Underworld, whose two huge inwardly curving jaws can also be seen on either side of him, and he has the World Tree, the axis mundi, the center of the universe, in the shape of a cross coming out of his naval. The huge bejeweled dragon is intertwined around the cross piece of the tree. The Celestial Bird sits atop the World Tree. The Tree represented the band of the Milky Way in Mayan thought according to Linda Schele, David Freidel, Maya Cosmos. A new book out on the detailed meaning of the various symbols on this magnificent piece of art is by Adrian Gilbert, The Mayan Prophecies.
