**Originally Listed at $1200**

Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerica, Olmec culture, ca. 1150 to 550 BCE. A smooth brown stone figural carving of a standing person, bent slightly at the waist, with legs and feet pointed outward and hands pressed to the stomach. The face is symmetrical, focused around the triangular nose, with deep incised lines across the brow and around the mouth perhaps suggesting age. Comes with custom stand. Size: 1.6" W x 4" H (4.1 cm x 10.2 cm); height on stand: 4.5" (11.4 cm).

The piece was made by string cutting, drilling, and using sandstone as an abrasive, all remarkable achievements, given that this is a hard stone to work.

The Olmec are the ancestors of all Mesoamerican civilizations, and their artistic style, practiced in the tropical lowlands of south central Mexico and diffused outward through extensive trade networks that stretched into northern Mexico and central America, were inspirational for those who came after. The Olmec style became synonymous with elite status in the highlands. They created enormous stone heads, probably the first thing many of us think of when we remember the Olmec, but they also made handheld figures like this one - probably totems or divinities for homes or particular temples. They lacked a written language, and as a result, we may never know the definitive meaning of their exceptional artwork.



Provenance: Ex-Private Florida collection

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#120394

Loss to one leg; possible damage to very top of head, but otherwise in excellent condition.