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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=ACEE7C7D8BBC0B970CF094CDDF788A37E414E92B85E2CAEF798F94C91A4EC106&s=24247294&se=867568161&v=4&f=1990.180_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=0C46408D5909A5A87E786E36927F1004C47BEBA30AC76AF23548DF1BE9C554BD&s=24247294&se=867568161&v=1&f=%5C1990.180det01_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=0C46408D5909A5A861EF1B2EB4635EF6F1A62A5A6AF7D651C0A27CCD5E2B3B8C&s=24247294&se=867568161&v=1&f=%5C1990.180det02_o2.jpg

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Vessel with Ballplayer

c. 600–1000

Mexico, Yucatán, Maya (Chocholá) style

(250-900)

Earthenware, pigment

Diameter: 18.1 x 15.6 cm (7 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Overall: 18 cm (7 1/16 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.180

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

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.

Provenance

?-1971

(Lee Moore: Fine Art of the Americas, Miami, FL, 1971, sold to James C. Gruener and Florence C, Gruener)

1971-1990

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

Citations

Turner, Evan H. "Acquisitions: 1990." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 2 (1991): 30-45. p. 33 www.jstor.org

Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Mentioned: cat. no. 88, p. 272, Reproduced: fig. 88, p.256 www.jstor.org

Whittington, E. Michael. The Sport of Life and Death The Mesoamerican Ballgame. London: Thames & Hudson, 2001. Mentioned: cat. no. 111, p. 237

Werness, Maline Diane. Chocholá Ceramics and the Politics of Northwestern Yucatán. 2010. Figure 86 and pp. 62, 168, 278

Exhibition history

The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).

The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC (September 24-December 30, 2001); New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA (February 16-April 28, 2002).

Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Vessel with Ballplayer|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.180|year=c. 600–1000|access-date=03 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Vessel with Ballplayer

Vessel with Ballplayer

Mexico, Yucatán, Maya (Chocholá) style

Location

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