Ball Player with Headdress
Artist:
Unknown
Place made:Veracruz, Mexico
General region:North and Central America
Culture: Huastec
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. A.D. 900
Dimensions:
height: 10 in. (25.4 cm)
width: 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
depth: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, bequest of Elizabeth Huth Coates
Object number: 97.1.13
Provenance: with Alphonse Jax, New York City, NY, by 1973; by purchase Elizabeth Huth Coates (nee Maddux) (1909-1996), San Antonio, TX, 1973; by bequest of the Elizabeth Huth Coates estate to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1997
Label Text
This rare, mold-made figure is wearing the mask of Tlaltecuhtli, an earth monster, who has associations with earth's fertility. Sacrificial victims and the sun are said to be devoured by this entity. (Bernadette Cap, 2022)
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.
