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Vessel with Ballplayer
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineVessel 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
