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SAM'S collection
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Palma
Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Palma

Label TextThis palma is carved to represent a fan-tailed bird. Palmas are made with a wide variety of images, including many types of birds and animals, and designs emphasizing blood and sacrifice. They were worn attached to the front of the “yoke” (waist ornament) in ritual processions staged during the ballgame or were sometimes set into the architecture of the ball court.
Object number48.88
Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art, Nov. 10, 2018 - ongoing.
Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions11 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (29.85 x 13.34 x 16.51 cm)
MediumVolcanic stone
Hacha in shape of bird's head
Mexican
Object number: 55.18
Metate (mealing stone)
Costa Rican
600
Object number: 54.25
Photo: Paul Macapia
first half of 9th century
Object number: 53.70
Palma
Mexican
Object number: 53.111
Mexican
Object number: 52.96
Frog
Mexican
Object number: 81.17.1379
Mexican
300 B.C.-A.D. 300
Object number: 64.40
Priest follower of Tlaloc, god of fertility
Mexican
ca. 1400 - 1521
Object number: 52.150
Totonac ax-shaped head
Mexican
Object number: 46.35