Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style (600-1100) / Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha) / 600-900

Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style (600-1100)
Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)
600-900
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Creator Nationality: North American; Central American; Mesoamerican
Creator Name-CRT: Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style (600-1100)
Title: Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)
Title Type: Primary
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 600
Creation End Date: 900
Creation Date: 600-900
Object Type: Sculpture
Classification Term: Sculpture-stone
Materials and Techniques: stone, pigment
Dimensions: Overall: 61.8cm x 20cm x 8.8cm
AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 2001.89
Credit Line: Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html
Provenance: Edward Merrin, before 1968; [Merrin Gallery, NY]
Context:

A tapered headdress-its base formed by a grotesque head with upturned snout-soars majestically above a serene human face in this thin stone head. Such heads probably were used in ballgame ceremonies, though we are not sure how. Equally obscure are the heads' identities. They could represent heroic, idealized players, ballgame patrons, or characters from the game's lore, among other things. Pigment traces suggest the head originally was painted; the large area of red pigment on one side may have been sprinkled after the head was buried in an offering or a tomb.

In this drawing, based on a wall relief in El Tajín's South Ballcourt, a ballplayer is shown with a hip protector around his waist. The protector supports a palma at the front and an hacha-like head at the back. Drawing from Sculptures of El Tajín, Fig. 22, University of Florida Press, 1972

AMICA ID: CMA_.2001.89
AMICA Library Year: 2002
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art

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