Pre-Columbian, Central Mexico, Guerrero region, Chontal, Late Preclassic period, ca. 300 to 100 BCE. A fabulous example of a stone carving from Guerrero, Mexico, a region best known for Mezcala and Chontal sculpture. Simplistic with facial features rendered to the bare minimum as raised ridges or shallow depressions, the geometric visage is unmistakably human. The features were achieved via sophisticated carving and string cutting techniques. Scholars believe that such masks were tied to funerary bundles of the noble elite to mark their passing and give them identity in the grave. Outside the grave, the dead were sometimes represented in art merely by a mask, or a mask set upon a small pyramid. Size: 3.8" W x 4" H (9.7 cm x 10.2 cm)

The Guerrero region of modern-day southwestern Mexico was the center of the Mezcala and Chontal stone carving traditions. While Mezcala artists are known for their abstract, geometric style, the Chontal sculptors imbued their artworks with more naturalism. Although their stonework stems from the Preclassic period, ca. 300 to 100 BCE, later Mesoamerican peoples clearly cherished Chontal portable sculptures as heirlooms. Chontal creations have been unearthed in ritual caches at Templo Mayor, the principal temple of the 15th century Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). Modernists such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Miguel Covarrubias appreciated the minimalist qualities of Chontal art. Covarrubias went so far as to compare it to the Cycladic style of ancient Greece.

Provenance: private Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA collection; ex-Minerva Gallery; ex-Benjamin Vega, California, USA, acquired in 2006 to 2007; ex-Gene and Virginia George, brought to the USA from 1961 to 1966

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#177892

Ancient drill holes that seemingly broke when being constructed in upper left of verso. Expected nicks and abrasions to surface with minor chip to tip of nose and natural fissures to stone. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice preservation of detail and earthen deposits in recessed areas.