{"type":"artobject","objectid":37593,"objectnumber":"1998-36","sortnumber":"1998 36","displaytitle":"Ballplayer","department":"Art of the Ancient Americas","classification":"Ceramic","datebegin":600,"dateend":900,"datecomputed":750,"daterange":"A.D. 500-1000","displaydate":"600–900","medium":"Ceramic with traces of Maya blue pigment","dimensions":"34.2 × 17.8 × 11.8 cm (13 7/16 × 7 × 4 5/8 in.)","dimensionsproposed":"","creditline":"Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund, in honor of Gillett G. Griffin on his seventieth birthday","markings":null,"inscribed":null,"signed":null,"catalograisonne":"K7723","creditlinerepro":"","restrictions":null,"nowebuse":"False","secondaryobjectnumber":null,"campuscollections":"false","on_view":true,"accessionyear":"1998-01-01","newaccession":0,"titles":[{"title":"Ballplayer","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"makers":[],"depicted":[],"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"[The Merrin Gallery, New York, NY]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum in honor of Gillett G. Griffin on his seventieth birthday, 1998.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"

Ceramic figurines associated with the islands of Jaina and Uaymil, off the west coast of Campeche, Mexico, provide an exceptionally rich record of noble Maya costume and adornment, including variations related to gender and courtly position. Looters disinterred hundreds of such figurines, all presumably associated with burials. The works vary dramatically in terms of detail and mode of manufacture, with some meticulously shaped by hand, others pressed from clay molds, and yet others fabricated through a combination of molded and modeled components. Many of the figurines produce sound, as rattles filled with clay pellets or as whistles, some producing multiple tones. The sound likely served to enliven and spiritually animate the subjects of these works. Although archaeological data is limited, individuals\n\nwere buried with one or a few figurines, but they do not generally accord with the status or gender of the interred.\n

The massive padding around the waist of this figure identifies him as a ballplayer. Players wore a body covering usually made from a thick layer of fabric or hide, topped by a U-shaped ribbed wooden element, painted blue, which was used to hit the ball. Hieroglyphic texts on other objects note that the heavy rubber balls, which were struck with the torso and hips, normally ranged from nine to twelve handspans in circumference, explaining the need for such extensive protection. The textile motifs decorating the figure’s loincloth are unusually detailed, with a cutout cross motif adorned with a knot at the center suggesting a sophisticated form of textile. The bird headdress\n\nmay have been particular to his team.\n 

","remarks":null}],"media":[{"id":262245,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20765","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":262246,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20766","isprimary":0,"rank":2,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":262247,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20769","isprimary":0,"rank":3,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":262248,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20770","isprimary":0,"rank":4,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":262249,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20771","isprimary":0,"rank":5,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":262250,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20772","isprimary":0,"rank":6,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"}],"hasimage":"true","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"\r\n

\"Principales acquisitions des musées en 1998,\" Chronique des arts: supplément à la Gazette des beaux-arts (Mar., 1999).

","citation":"\r\n

\"Principales acquisitions des musées en 1998,\" Chronique des arts: supplément à la Gazette des beaux-arts (Mar., 1999).

, p. 42, entry 162 (illus.)","date":1999,"id":5848,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/43237184"},{"boilertext":"Allen Rosenbaum, \"'Gillett and Me': How a Eurocentric Museum Director Learned to Love Pre-Columbian Art,\" Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 64 (2005): 8-19.","citation":"Allen Rosenbaum, \"'Gillett and Me': How a Eurocentric Museum Director Learned to Love Pre-Columbian Art,\" Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 64 (2005): 8-19., fig. 13, p. 18","date":2005,"id":2745,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774829"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1998,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 86-123.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1998,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 86-123., p. 119, p. 121 (illus.)","date":1999,"id":3044,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774795"},{"boilertext":"Patrick Frank, Prebles' Artforms, Tenth Edition (Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011).","citation":"Patrick Frank, Prebles' Artforms, Tenth Edition (Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011)., fig. 10.5, p. 164 (illus.)","date":2011,"id":932,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/606235192"},{"boilertext":"Mary E. Miller and Simon Martin, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco, 2004).","citation":"Mary E. Miller and Simon Martin, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco, 2004)., pl. 44, 90 (illus.)","date":2004,"id":2924,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/54799516"},{"boilertext":"E. Michael Whittington, ed., The sport of life and death: the Mesoamerican ballgame (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001).","citation":"E. Michael Whittington, ed., The sport of life and death: the Mesoamerican ballgame (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001)., cat. no. 106, p. 233 (illus.)","date":2001,"id":2942,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/49029226"},{"boilertext":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 122 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":337,"citation":"The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame:\r\nMint Museum of Art (22 Sept., 2001 – 6 Jan., 2002);\r\nNew Orleans Museum of Art (16 Feb. – 28 Apr. 2002);\r\nJoslyn Art Museum (8 Jun. – 1 Sept., 2002);\r\nNewark Museum (1 Oct. – 1 Dec., 2002).","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2001-09-24","enddate":"2002-12-01","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/337"},{"exhibitionid":3,"citation":"Unexpected Journey: Gillett G. Griffin and the Art of the Ancient Americas at Princeton (May 7–June 26, 2005)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2005-05-07","enddate":"2005-06-26","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/3"},{"exhibitionid":559,"citation":"Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (April 4, 2004–January 2, 2005)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2004-04-04","enddate":"2005-01-02","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/559"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: North America, Mexico, Campeche, Maya area, Jaina Island or vicinity","code":"Place made","continent":"North America","subcontinent":"Mesoamerica","country":"Mexico","region":"Maya area","state":"Campeche","city":null,"county":null,"subregion":"Northern lowlands","locale":"Jaina Island or vicinity","locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/3526628/isla-jaina.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"terms":[{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055438,"term":"figurines","aatid":300047455,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2049167,"term":"ceramics","aatid":300151343,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2056655,"term":"light grayish red","aatid":300126552,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2059407,"term":"blue","aatid":300129361,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2039077,"term":"Late Classic","aatid":300016986,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2094874,"term":"nobles (aristocrats)","aatid":300236022,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2130516,"term":"belt (costume accessory)","aatid":300210002,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2142635,"term":"protective equipment","aatid":300167896,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2035671,"term":"Late Classic","aatid":300016986,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2146924,"term":"ball games","aatid":300239662,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2036114,"term":"Maya","aatid":null,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2131826,"term":"headdresses","aatid":300046023,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088270,"term":"men","aatid":300025928,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2168423,"term":"pigment","aatid":300013109,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2160750,"term":"ceramic","aatid":300235507,"termtype":"Materials"}],"classifications":[{"id":2049167,"classification":"ceramics"},{"id":2055438,"classification":"figurines"}],"cultures":[{"id":12497,"culture":"Maya","alphasort":"Maya","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Maya","displaydate":null}],"cultureterms":[{"id":2039077,"culture":"Late Classic"},{"id":2036114,"culture":"Maya"}],"periods":[{"id":24016,"period":"Late Classic Period","alphasort":"Classic Period, Late","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayperiod":"Late Classic Period","displaydate":null}],"periodterms":[{"id":2035671,"period":"Late Classic"}],"attribute_groups":[{"id":2199317,"term":"Art of the Ancient Americas","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"34.20"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"17.80"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"11.80"}],"packages":[{"packageid":225488,"name":"Gallery_20(Pavilion5)-AAA"},{"packageid":181974,"name":"web_2020_AAA"},{"packageid":193150,"name":"PUAM_Expressing Culture_Mesoamerican"},{"packageid":195745,"name":"PUAM_World Cultures"},{"packageid":194491,"name":"PUAM_Highlights of Mesoamerica"},{"packageid":206417,"name":"image_descriptions_top250"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":141941,"name":"Web_Ballgame_all"},{"packageid":204035,"name":"Teaching Kit Reproductions 8 1/2 x 11"},{"packageid":185608,"name":"image_descriptions_artmaking"},{"packageid":192041,"name":"zPUAM_Expressing Culture_Ancient Maya"},{"packageid":182962,"name":"Tour_WorldHighlights"}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMANX25_250409_20765"],"displaymaker":null,"displayculture":"Maya","displayperiod":"Late Classic Period","caption":"Maya, Late Classic Period, 600–900, Northern lowlands, Campeche, Maya area, Mexico, Mesoamerica, Ballplayer. 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