Ballgame Yoke
450–700
Object PlaceEl Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico
Medium/TechniqueCarved stone
DimensionsOverall: 13 x 37.5 x 41.6 cm (5 1/8 x 14 3/4 x 16 3/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Lavinia and Landon T. Clay
Accession number2003.855
On View
On viewClassificationsRitual objects
Collections
U-shaped yokes, worn around the waists of ballplayers, were used to strike the solid, rubber ball. This stone yoke is too heavy to be worn during a game; the actual equipment was made of wood and leather. This yoke's carved image of a bearded person-perhaps the mythical hero Quetzalcóatl-suggests that the yoke was a prized possession or a trophy and likely was placed in a tomb as a funerary offering.
ProvenanceBy 1959, Jay C. Leff (b. 1925 - d. 2000), Uniontown, PA [see note 1]; May 23, 1970, Leff sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, lot 113. 1970, private American collection [see note 2]; December 10, 2003, anonymous ("Grand Amateur d'outre Atlantique") sale, Christie's, Paris, lot 496, to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 21, 2004)NOTE: [1] Included in the exhibition "Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff" (Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October 15, 1959 - January 3, 1960), cat. no. 548. [2] According to the Christie's, Paris catalogue.
300 B.C.–A.D. 300
A.D. 500–1550
A.D. 500–1550
300 B.C.–A.D. 300
300 B.C.–A.D. 300
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A.D. 1100–1550
A.D. 1100–1550
A.D. 100–600
A.D. 1000–1530
1100–1550
A.D. 1100–1550