Standing ballplayer figure

Dateca. AD 250–450

Place Made DisplayPanuco, Veracruz Mexico

MediumCeramic

DimensionsOverall: 10 5/8 × 2 × 2 inches (27 × 5.1 × 5.1 cm)

CultureHuastec (Mexico)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineAcquired through the Ernest I. White, Class of 1893, Endowment Fund

Terms

México
Ceramics
Ceramic
Huastec

Object number97.017.001

Label CopyWHERE WAS IT MADE? The Huastec culture was centered in northern Veracruz, along the Gulf coast area of what is now Mexico. The Huastecs flourished during the Classic Period, succeeding the earlier Maya and preceding the later Aztecs. HOW WAS IT MADE? This figure was hand modeled from a light, buff colored clay. To harden the clay, the figure was fired in an earthen pit. Notice the dark pigment on his loincloth. This is from a black resin-based paint that was applied after firing, some of which has worn away over time. HOW WAS IT USED? This ballplayer figure may have been made to represent an especially skilled athlete, to commemorate a special victory, or to serve as a good luck talisman. The ball game was extremely important throughout Mesoamerica. In the game, a solid rubber ball was volleyed from player to player using the body, rather than the hands or feet. Many large stone courts still survive today, and depictions of players and the game can be seen in art from many Mesoamerican cultures and time periods. Successful ball players won great acclaim, while the defeated faced severe punishment and even death. Symbolically, the game was linked to the duality of life and death, day and night, and may have been played to help maintain order of both the political and cosmological realms. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS? This figure wears the characteristic athletic gear worn by players of the Mesoamerican ball game: a thick yoke, or girdle, around his waist, a kneepad on the left knee, and a loincloth, the typical garment worn by men in this society. Notice the elaborate coiffure or headdress on his head; the tall hairstyle is typical of these slender, graceful Huastec figures. Also notice his adornments of earrings or ear plugs, a necklace, and a bracelet on his left arm. All known ballplayer figures are male, like this one, and it appears that only men played the sport. To see another Huastec ball player figure in the Johnson Museum’s collection, search for object number 70.043 in the keyword search box. Today a similar sport is still played in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is called ulama, and the men who play it wear similar attire to that worn by earlier players. Large stone yokes, similar in form to the one worn around the waist of this ballplayer figure, have also been found, but it is more likely that a lighter and more flexible material was used to make the yokes worn by the ballplayers. To see a stone yoke in the Johnson Museum’s collection, search for object number 73.013.001 in the keyword search box.

Collections