Mexico, Olmec
Middle Formative period, 10th to 4th century BC
Stone
Height 5" (12.7 cm); length 16 1/4" (41.3 cm)
Provenance: Midwestern museum; Ron Messick, Santa Fe, New Mexico, purchased 2005
Yugos are U-shaped stone objects associated with the Mesoamerican ballgame, generally understood as ritual or ceremonial versions of the protective belt elements worn by ballgame players rather than practical equipment used in play. These objects were among the most formally considered productions of Mesoamerican lapidary work, their carved surfaces encoding imagery connected to rank, sacrifice, and the cosmological significance of the ballgame within Mesoamerican ceremonial life. This fragment preserves a section of the original carved surface, retaining the decorative program that identified the object's ceremonial function and the status of its owner.
The scale and surviving carving of this fragment indicate it once belonged to a larger ceremonial belt assemblage of the type associated with elite ballgame ritual and public performance. Olmec yugos from the Middle Formative period represent some of the earliest examples of this form in Mesoamerica, predating the more widely documented Classic period examples from Veracruz and other Gulf Coast centers. The fragmentary condition is consistent with the age and burial history of the object and does not diminish its documentary value as a piece of early Olmec ceremonial stonework.
The provenance traces this fragment through a Midwestern museum before its acquisition by Ron Messick of Santa Fe in 2005, one of the leading dealers in Pre-Columbian material in the American Southwest during that period. Objects with documented museum provenance occupy a well established position within the legal and scholarly frameworks governing the sale of Pre-Columbian material. The combination of Olmec attribution, Middle Formative date, and museum collection history gives this fragment a clear place within the documented corpus of early Mesoamerican ceremonial stonework.
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Mexico, Olmec
Middle Formative period, 10th to 4th century BC
Stone
Height 5" (12.7 cm); length 16 1/4" (41.3 cm)
Provenance: Midwestern museum; Ron Messick, Santa Fe, New Mexico, purchased 2005
Yugos are U-shaped stone objects associated with the Mesoamerican ballgame, generally understood as ritual or ceremonial versions of the protective belt elements worn by ballgame players rather than practical equipment used in play. These objects were among the most formally considered productions of Mesoamerican lapidary work, their carved surfaces encoding imagery connected to rank, sacrifice, and the cosmological significance of the ballgame within Mesoamerican ceremonial life. This fragment preserves a section of the original carved surface, retaining the decorative program that identified the object's ceremonial function and the status of its owner.
The scale and surviving carving of this fragment indicate it once belonged to a larger ceremonial belt assemblage of the type associated with elite ballgame ritual and public performance. Olmec yugos from the Middle Formative period represent some of the earliest examples of this form in Mesoamerica, predating the more widely documented Classic period examples from Veracruz and other Gulf Coast centers. The fragmentary condition is consistent with the age and burial history of the object and does not diminish its documentary value as a piece of early Olmec ceremonial stonework.
The provenance traces this fragment through a Midwestern museum before its acquisition by Ron Messick of Santa Fe in 2005, one of the leading dealers in Pre-Columbian material in the American Southwest during that period. Objects with documented museum provenance occupy a well established position within the legal and scholarly frameworks governing the sale of Pre-Columbian material. The combination of Olmec attribution, Middle Formative date, and museum collection history gives this fragment a clear place within the documented corpus of early Mesoamerican ceremonial stonework.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
INQUIRE HERE
