Chontal Seated Figure

Josef Mueller, Solothurn, acquired in the 1920s or 1930s

Jean-Paul and Monique Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, acquired by descent from the above (inv. no. 505-40)

Sotheby's, Paris, Collection Barbier-Mueller. Art Précolombien, March 22, 2013, lot 189

Acquired at the above auction by the present owner

Michel Graulich, "Guerrero Stone Figures: Mezcala, Chontal and Sultepec", in Jacques Blazy, ed., Art Précolombien. La Collection Barbier-Mueller, Paris, 2013, p. 100, fig. 65

The Chontal region of northern Guerrero was home to more naturalistic and varied types of stone sculpture compared to the contemporaneous Mezcala corpus. The present figure combines a stylized and geometric body, composed of flat planes, with a naturalistic face, with its exaggerated forward thrust. A distinctive and pronounced headband encircles the brow. The very top of the head is recessed, as if for use as a receptacle.

In assessing the corpus of objects from this region, Robin Gay notes that “The Chontal inventory of ritual artifacts is one of the richest and most varied of ancient Mexico, and documents the changing character [...] of lithic industries in Guerrero from at least 1500 BC in its primordial locations to probably AD 600 in its derivative manifestations.”¹

¹ Carlo Gay and Robin Gay, Chontal: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 2001, p. 13.