Artwork Page for Vessel with Ballplayer

Details / Information for Vessel with Ballplayer

Vessel with Ballplayer

c. 600–1000

Mexico, Yucatán, Maya (Chocholá) style

(250-900)
Medium
earthenware, pigment
Measurements
Diameter: 18.1 x 15.6 cm (7 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Overall: 18 cm (7 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.180
Public Domain
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Location
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Print
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Did You Know?

This vessel was once broken into 34 pieces before being repaired.

Description

Many Mesoamerican people played ball games, using their hips rather than hands and feet to keep the heavy, solid rubber ball in play. Here a Maya ballplayer, wearing a thick protector to shield his torso from injury, dives to intercept the ball, which hovers in front of his face. The scene is situated within stepped walls, probably those of a ball court.
Dark brown cylindrical vessel with a central figure wearing layers of protective clothing and running forward, one arm stretched in front of them and the other swinging behind, with a ball in front of their face. They wear a long headdress that appears like an animal face with feathers sprouting from the top. A band with geometric patterns runs around the rim of the vessel with similar geometric shapes surrounding the figure.

Vessel with Ballplayer

c. 600–1000

Mexico, Yucatán, Maya (Chocholá) style (250-900)

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