Standing figure, Mezcala culture, Guerrero, Mexico, late Formative period, ca 400 BC-100 AD. Type M-4. green-black ...

Standing figure, Mezcala culture, Guerrero, Mexico, late Formative period, ca 400 BC-100 AD. Type M-4. green-black speckled diorite. Anthropomorphic form, the face only slightly indicated by three oval depressions. The arms bent on the abdomen. Very elegant figure in excellent condition. H 17 cm. The cycladic art style of these rare and sought-after pre-Columbian objects is unsurpassed in ancient Mesoamerican art.
Provenance: Collection August Maurer, Basel before 1986; Auction Vogler 2015, Private collection Germany.
Compare: A similar figure, except for the nose, is illustrated in Gay 2001, loc. cit. p. 31 pl. c, p. 35. pl. 19. (early period Chontal tradition. Cf. Gay 2001, p. 22. + 102.).
Literature: Gay Carlo: Mezcala Stone Sculpture - The Human Figure, Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1967; Gay Carlo and Pratt Frances: Mezcala: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero Mexico, Switzerland and New York: Balsas Publications, 1992, p. 47; Gay Carlo: Ancient Ritual Stone Artifacts: Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bruxelles, Académie Royale de Belgique, 1995; Gay Carlo and Robin: Chontal - Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Switzerland, Balsas Publications, 2001.