MEZCALA STONE FIGURE LATE PRECLASSIC, CIRCA 300-100 BC

Private Collection, New York, acquired by the 1960s

Christie's, New York, May 23, 2007, lot 73, consigned by the above

Private Collection, acquired at the above auction

According to Carlo T. E. Gay, Mezcala sculpture "alters our traditional perception of the human form by its geometric rather than naturalistic interpretation […] the sculpture is based on a clever play of volumes and planes, usually within a symmetrically composed, contained format. Stripped clean to the basic position of standing, seated or kneeling and devoid of flying appendages, the figures manifest a commanding presence." (Gay and Pratt, Mezcala: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero Mexico, Geneva, 1992, p. 21). Indeed the pared-down modernist aesthetic of Mezcala figures such as the present example imbues the corpus with a timeless appeal. This figure is classified as "M-10" for its formal traits, such as the planar face and its forearms, which are rendered sharply incised.