The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 25, 2025

Figurine with Back Rack

300–900 CE

Mexico, Maya, Jaina style

molded and modeled pottery with traces of pigment
Overall: 23.2 x 10.6 x 7.5 cm (9 1/8 x 4 3/16 x 2 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.172
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Figurines from Jaina, an elite Maya burial ground, served as companions for the dead.

Description

Maya figurines—made by hand, with molds, or sometimes a combination of the two techniques—represent a wide range of human, animals, and supernatural beings. This example is a male with an enormous backrack, an article of ceremonial attire worn by dancers and other courtly personnel. Figurines have been found in tombs and offerings but also in household contexts.
  • 1946?-before 1958
    Wolfgang Paalen, sold? to Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX
    ?-1958
    (Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1958, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
    1958-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • null
    Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. p. 272, no. 182 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Figurine with Back Rack|url=false|author=|year=300–900 CE|access-date=25 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.172