Mesolithic Quartzite "Figure Stone"

Formerly in the collection of artist Tony Berlant (b. 1941).

With EU license 2025DMF0222 permitting export, issued by the French Ministry of Culture

First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone. 27 January - 29 April 2018. Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas.

Berlant, Tony, and Thomas Wynn. First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone. Nasher Sculpture Center, 2018, Cat. 72.

A STRIKING MESOLITHIC FIGURE STONE WITH SKULL-LIKE FORM, ATTRIBUTED TO HOMO SAPIENS

Dated to the Mesolithic period and attributed to Homo sapiens, this compelling quartzite figure stone represents a later and more developed stage within the tradition of selected and minimally worked forms.

The present example is notable for the clarity and force of its composition. A rounded upper mass suggests a cranium, while the projecting lower element reads as a jaw-like form, creating a compact and highly legible skull-like silhouette. The intervention appears restrained, with the emphasis placed on isolating and presenting a naturally suggestive form rather than extensively reshaping it.

Its inclusion in both the Nasher Sculpture Center’s landmark exhibition First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone and the Benaki Museum’s The Origins of Sculpture places it within a key group central to current discussions surrounding the emergence of representation in early human history.