The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Ballgame Palma

Ballgame Palma

900–1100
Overall: 43.5 x 24 x 15 cm (17 1/8 x 9 7/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

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.
  • ?-1966
    (Stendahl Art Galleries, Los Angeles, CA, 1966, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
    1966-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 252 www.jstor.org
  • The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 4 - November 29, 1992. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art. 79 (September, 1992.) cat. no. 72, p. 271, repr. fig. 72, p. 252.
  • {{cite web|title=Ballgame Palma|url=false|author=|year=900–1100|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.253