- 175
Two Mezcala stone animal figures, Late Preclassic, ca. 300-100 B.C.
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
including a four-legged animal with upturned tail, drilled eyes and grinning mouth, and a rattlesnake with massive head, drilled eye and tapering rattles; in serpentine and metadiorite, each pierced for suspension.
Literature
Carlo Gay and Frances Pratt, Mezcala, Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, 1992, pl. 172 for the snake.
Catalogue Note
Mezcala animal effigies appear as monkies, snakes, toads, fish, bats and dogs. This large group of creatures ( of which the serpents were carved in the most variety), were clearly an important category within Mezcala magic and rituals, serving as totemic items more than merely ornaments, see Gay and Pratt (1992:164; and pls. 179-181) for the dog examples.