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

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

The work and its context

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

Maya figurines portray a wide range of human, animals, and supernatural beings. This example represents a kneeling warrior who holds a rectangular shield and wears elaborate ornaments, including huge ear spools. The expressive, delicate head was made in a mold; the body was hand modeled.

Object facts

• Title: Warrior Figurine with Shield
• Date: 600–900
• Culture: Mexico, Classic Maya, Jaina style
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: molded and modeled pottery with traces of pigment
• Dimensions: Overall: 17.3 x 9.2 x 7.9 cm (6 13/16 x 3 5/8 x 3 1/8 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1990.178

A detail from the museum

Elaborate facial tattoos and a bivalve pendent identify this warrior as a sajal, a second-tier noble.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener

Further reading listed by the museum

• Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.

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.