Ball Player Figure
Place made:Colima, Mexico
Place made:Jalisco, Mexico
Culture: Tuxcacuesco-Ortices
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: 200 B.C.-A.D. 300
Medium: Earthenware
Dimensions:
h. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of John and Kathi Oppenheimer
Object number: 2023.7.109
Provenance: Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1980 (Note 1); John and Kathi Oppenheimer by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2023.
Note 1: This object appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection printed in November 1980 (date appears on the reverse of the photograph).
Label Text
This male figure likely represents a player of the Mesoamerican ballgame since he wears the game's typical protective gear on the body. A belt (or yoke) wraps high around the waist and a strapped helmet protects the head. While ballplayer figurines are common in the Tuxcacuesco-Ortices tradition of which this figure was a part, the seated posture is less common. Standing ballplayers are more typical (see, for example, SAMA's 2023.7.28). On some Tuxcacuesco-Ortices figurines, phallic imagery is incorporated into the ballgame costume at the waist; this may be the case on this figure as well. (Kristopher Driggers, 2024)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
