Ballgame Palma
900–1100
- Medium
- stone, pigment
- Dimensions
- Overall: 43.5 x 24 x 15 cm (17 1/8 x 9 7/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
- Genre
- Sculpture
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style (600-1100)
About
Stone palmas, so-called today for their palm-frond-like shape, are ceremonial sculptures that may replicate lightweight gear worn over the chest during the ballgame. Palma imagery is not well-studied and the meaning of the caiman (New World alligator) carved on both sides of this example is unknown. The tail is beautifully adapted to the palma's curved upper edge.