Unknown Central and South American
Seated Ballplayer

Public Domain

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Artist Unknown Central and South American

CultureMaya

Titles

Seated Ballplayer

Date600–900 AD

MediumEarthenware with traces of polychrome pigment

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 5 in. (14 × 11.1 × 12.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. Accessions Endowment Fund

Object number2013.291

Current Location

The Caroline Wiess Law Building

205M Wiess Gallery

On view

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Department

Art of the Indigenous Americas

Object Type

SCULPTURE

ProvenanceJose Palomeca and Guy Puerta; [André Emmerich (1924–2007) Gallery, New York, by 1967]; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY, 1967–until at least 1988; [Ancient Art of the New World, New York]; Private collection, New York, by at least 2001–2013 [2]; sold through Altlantic Art Parnters, New York; purchased by MFAH, 2013.

[1] Parsons, Lee. Ulama: The Ballgame of the Mayas and Aztecs. Leiden, 1988. Page 164, figure 36.
[2] Whittington, Michael. The Sport of Life and Death. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2001. Page 228, fig. 101.
Exhibition History"The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame," The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, September 22, 2001–January 6, 2002.

"Ulama–The ballgame of the Mayas and Aztecs," Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, 1988.

"Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art," Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, May 17 - August 24, 1986, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, October 8–December 14, 1986.

"Jaina Figurines," The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, May 3–June 29, 1975.

“Fangs, Feathers, and Fins: Sacred Creatures in Ancient American Art,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 15, 2014–March 22, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

On bottom with red paint: 67.80
On bottom with white paint: MN2

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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