A Maya Stone Yoke Gulf Coast, Mexico, c. 500-800 AD Carved from green porphyritic stone densely dotted wit...

Description

A Maya Stone Yoke
Gulf Coast, Mexico, c. 500-800 AD

Carved from green porphyritic stone densely dotted with pale blue inclusions, this yoke has the overall form of a toad, its broad curving shape recalling the body of Bufo marinus, the large toad known in Mesoamerica for its potent glands and long association with altered states. From the front emerges a distorted human face, one half alert and living, the other older or death-marked, with a bulging closed eye, wrinkling beside the nose, and a twisted mouth. A knotted band crosses the forehead. The exterior is lustrous and highly polished, while the interior is left pecked and unpolished, a deliberate contrast that heightens the object's sculptural finish. The conflation of toad and human suggests transformation, trance, and passage between life and death.

Stone yokes are part of the Classic Veracruz ballgame complex. Rather than actual game equipment, they are generally understood as stone representations of the padded belts worn by ballplayers and as objects used in procession or ritual, not in play itself. Their imagery could be closely tied to costume, impersonation, and the charged ceremonial world of the ballcourt. In that context, the present yoke is especially compelling for the way it joins a hallucinogenic toad form with a divided human visage, giving visual form to altered consciousness and transformation. A highly unusual and memorable example, notable for its elegant stone, polished surface, and psychologically charged imagery.

In very good condition.

Length: 16 inches

Provenance:
Sotheby's, New York, November 23, 1992, lot 152
Fine Art of Ancient Lands, New York, NY

Estimate: $12,000 - $18,000.

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