Lot 58A
Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Late Classic period, ca. 600 to 900 CE. Horseshoe-shaped ritual ball game implement rendered compactly with complex iconography symbolizing duality and perhaps representing the underworld. A mask is caved bisected by another mask which is framed by the profile head of an animal to either side. Other masks with feather plumage on sides. Remains of red cinnabar. In green gray stone. Size: 16-1/2"L (41.8 cm) x 13-1/2"W x 4"H + custom museum-quality mount.
Compare similar examples in Secrets in Stone: Yokes, Hachas and Palmas from Southern Mesoamerica by E. M. Shook & E. Marquis. Whittington, E. Michael. The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Thames and Hudson, 2001.
Yokes such as this one, with the exact same shape and dimensions, are found concentrated at the all of the major sites of Mayan games, such as Chichen Itza, a major pre-Colombian site which includes a large rectangular ball court of lush green grass, surrounded by a stone amphitheater for spectators. The prevailing theory about the yokes' purpose is that they were worn as belts by the athletes and used as a part of the game, perhaps as a surface upon which the athletes bounced the ball. The athletes may have worn wooden yokes, and the stone may be ceremonial replicas - burial sites near the ball courts have revealed bodies discovered wearing stone yokes. This theory is based upon the discovery of stone effigy figurines of Mayan athletes that consistently depict the athletes dressed in full ceremonial gear - including these U-shaped yokes, which are always situated around the waists of the athletes. These sculpted figurines often depict the yokes with representations of leather or fabric around the body to show how the yokes are held in place around the athlete's waists.
Ex-private Miura Hiroshi, old Japanese collection.
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#110441
- Condition: Professionally repaired. A superb example.
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