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

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] [1]; 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 Atlantic Art Partners, New York; purchased by MFAH, 2013.

[1] Emmerich inventory number M78; color slide dated June 67.
[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.
Published References FAMSI website, Resources, Kerr, Portfolio. Kerr Image Number 2860. Whittington, E. Michael, ed., The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame, The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, 2001, fig. 101. Schele, Linda, Hidden Faces of the Maya, Impetus Comunicacion S.A. de C.V., 1997, pg. 122, pls 2 front and back views and front view on back cover of dust jacket. Allan, Tony, Gods of Sun and Sacrifice: Aztec and Maya Myth, Duncan Baird Publishers, 1997, pg. 42. Leyenaar, Ted J. J. and Lee A. Parsons, Ulama - The ballgame of the Mayas and Aztecs, Leiden, 1988, plate 21 (color) and fig. 36 (black and white). Schele, Linda and Mary Ellen Miller, The Blood of Kings, Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, 1986, pl. 99 and 99a. Furst, Jill Leslie and Peter T. Furst, Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico, Abbeville Press, New York, 1980, pgs. 78 - 79. Miller, Mary Ellen, Jaina Figurines, Princeton University, 1975, fig., 17. 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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