Warrior Figurine with Removable Headdress (600–900): Art, History and Details

Warrior Figurine with Removable Headdress (600–900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The major offerings placed in the Maya graves of Jaina Island were ceramic figurines, some of Mesoamerica's finest, that depict deities and humans in a variety of roles. This warrior, his headdress removable, once probably held weapons and wears either quilted cotton armor or the feathered uniform of a military order. We don't know why such figures are often pot-bellied.

Object facts

• Title: Warrior Figurine with Removable Headdress
• Date: 600–900
• Culture: Mexico, Yucatán, Jaina Island region, Campeche, Maya style (250-900)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: earthenware with pigment
• Dimensions: Overall: 26.1 cm (10 1/4 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1963.93

A detail from the museum

Maya blue pigment was made by combining clay with indigo in a complex technique developed around the ninth century.

Collection credit

James Albert and Mary Gardiner Ford Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.