Jalisco Ball Player in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2008

Jalisco Ballplayers

Two Ballplayers
Mexico; Jalisco
100 BC- 300 AD
Ceramic

Accession Numbers: 2005.91.1, 2005.91.13

The role of the ballplayer is one of the earliest that human figures were given in the ceramic sculpture of ancient Mexico. Ballplayer imagery is known from mortuary contexts dating to about 1200 BC. It continued for almost three thousand years in Mexico, appearing in art of all media. Played with a hard rubber ball that reached large proportions, the game is thought to have different rules and meanings at different times and places throughout the Precolumbian era. In some regions, it had sacred and/or mythic significance, and remaining forms of it were played in remote areas of Mexico well into the twentieth century. Rendered in the Ameca-Etzatian style of Jalisco, the players here are in a position that clearly indicates their high status and that of the activity in which they are engaged.

The ceramic sculpture of Jalisco has been found in tombs with multiple burials, perhaps all members of the same family. These tombs were deeply buried at the bottom of tall shafts and contained many offerings such as ceramic figures, personal ornaments, and bowls and jars of food.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.