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Figurine Holding A Ball(?)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Ballgame ceremonialism and art peaked between AD 600 and 1100 in Veracruz and elsewhere, but forms of a ballgame were played at most times and places in Mesoamerica. This charming figurine, which seems to hold a ball, illustrates that the game developed much earlier, although we know little about its meaning during this period.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFigurine Holding A Ball(?), 1500–500 BCE. Mexico, Guerrero, Xochipala style. Earthenware, pigment; overall: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Clara Taplin Rankin, 1998.82
