Pre-Columbian, Valley of Mexico, Teotihuacan culture, ca. 3rd to 7th century CE. An intriguing female figure that is hand-carved from mottled forest-green serpentine with sage and olive-green inclusions. She stands with a rigid posture upon petite feet, has an ankle-length skirt covering her legs, and bears lengthy bangs that cover the tops of her shoulders. Her protruding countenance presents with narrow, coffee-bean eyes flanking a triangular nose, thin lips, curved cheeks, and shallow drilled cavities in her ear lobes that were perhaps meant for additional ornamentation. She wears a broad headband across her brow that is incised with a horizontal ladder motif and string-cut tie-offs on the verso of her head. Size: 1.75" W x 3.9" H (4.4 cm x 9.9 cm)

Teotihuacan was at one time the largest city in the Pre-Columbian world, famous for its pyramids (Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon) as well as the Great Compound with the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (aka Temple of the Plumed Serpent) punctuating the Avenue of the Dead. Stone figures like this example are perhaps the best-known works of Teotihuacan art. Examples like this figure from Teotihuacan often have idealized features (rather than individual depictions) and calm expressions, with simple lines used economically in order to create powerful effigies without excessive detail.

Provenance: ex-private Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA collection; ex-private Texas, USA collection, prior to 1970

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#163697

Minor nicks and pitting to obverse, peripheries, and verso commensurate with age, with light softening to some finer details, and chips to nose, headband, and lower body, otherwise intact and excellent. Great surface smoothness throughout.