Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Guerrero region, Mezcala culture, ca. 500 BCE to 500 CE. A large slate stone of a miniature architectural model to represent a building or funerary structures that were more permanent than the mortal lives that created them. The remaining four openwork columns and string cut staircase in front signify a shrine or temple, a figure may have once stood in the center and a secondary abstract figure similar to Mezcala "axe gods," is cut into the roof finial. Little is certain of the meaning or function of these stone models, but nearly all have been found in graves and ritual caches suggesting they were gifts for the deceased perhaps to symbolize a former dwelling or sacred building for the afterlife. Size: 6.25" L x 0.5" W x 8.75" H (15.9 cm x 1.3 cm x 22.2 cm); 9.5" H (24.1 cm) on included custom stand.

For a similar example with figures, please see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website, accession number: 1994.35.632.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Florida, USA collection; ex-Barry Kerneman collection, Toronto, Canada, USA; ex-Samuel Dubiner collection, Tel Aviv, Israel, acquired in the 1960s

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#175449

Loss to central column as shown, and older losses to peripheries. Chips and abrasions to high pointed areas. Light mineral deposits on surface and old inventory label on verso.