During the Late Classic period a style of pottery developed known as Saxche Orange Polychrome; distinguished by the use of black and red decorations over an orange to yellowish background. The sides of this fine bowl rise to a flared rim extending beyond the base. On the exterior are two bands of decoration separated by a thick red line; the upper containing glyphs or pseudoglyphs, while the lower shows full body figures in profile. Two black lines divide the bowl's interior into two concentric fields of ornamentation. Glyphs on ceramics were often used purely as decoration without an intrinsic meaning; though the figures themselves probably represent deities. They seem to float around the bowl effortlessly, as befits supernatural beings. Though probably made strictly as a utilitarian object, the expert painting on this bowl turns it into a work of art, and a cultural artifact of a fascinating people.