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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
155454
label
Vessel with Ballplayer
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155454
contentType
object
title
Vessel with Ballplayer
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.
date
c. 600–1000
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60760298
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 18.1 x 15.6 cm (7 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Overall: 18 cm (7 1/16 in.)
cul
Mexico, Yucatán, Maya (Chocholá) style (250-900)
accession
1990.18
Source extras
tec
earthenware, pigment
tombstone
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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener, 1990.180
collection
AA - Mesoamerica
didYouKnow
This vessel was once broken into 34 pieces before being repaired.
citations
citation
Merrony, Mark. “The Maya : First Lords of the Jungle." <em>Antiqvvs</em> 3, n. 3 (Summer 2021): 39-44.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 43
citation
Turner, Evan H. "Acquisitions: 1990." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 2 (1991): 30-45.
page_number
p. 33
citation
Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 88, p. 272, Reproduced: fig. 88, p.256
citation
Whittington, E. Michael. <em>The Sport of Life and Death The Mesoamerican Ballgame.</em> London: Thames & Hudson, 2001.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 111, p. 237
citation
Werness, Maline Diane.<em> Chocholá Ceramics and the Politics of Northwestern Yucatán. </em>2010.
page_number
Figure 86 and pp. 62, 168, 278
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
sketchfabId
c1ddf562b5bf4d5ba5304ddf2b567cd2
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:15:42.474000
sourceId
155454
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Mesoamerica
med
earthenware, pigment
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
92915c0cb7456786