Guerrero Chontal Stone Face Mask

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Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Apr 25, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-04-25 10:00:00 2019-04-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/pre-columbian-tribal-ethnographic-4035
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Central Mexico, Guerrero, Chontal, Late Preclassic Period, ca. 300 to 100 BCE. A wonderful face mask of a square form, hand-carved from a grey-green stone slab with some russet-hued inclusions. The minimalist visage is defined by prototypical puffy cheeks, a rounded chin, deeply pierced eyes and mouth, raised eyebrows connected to a large nose, and a heavy brow line. Traces of a single drilled perforation near the face's lower left corner suggests similar perforations were drilled at each of the four corners. Custom museum-quality display stand included. Size: 5.9" W x 6.5" H (15 cm x 16.5 cm); 9.25" H (23.5 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  The Guerrero region of modern-day southwestern Mexico was the center of the Mezcala and Chontal stone carving traditions. While Mezcala artists are known for their abstract, geometric style, the Chontal sculptors imbued their artworks with more naturalism. Although their stonework stems from the Preclassic period, ca. 300 to 100 BCE, later Mesoamerican peoples clearly cherished Chontal portable sculptures as heirlooms. Chontal creations have been unearthed in ritual caches at Templo Mayor, the principle temple of the 15th century Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). What's more, legendary 20th century modernists such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Miguel Covarrubias appreciated the minimalist qualities of Chontal art. Covarrubias went so far as to compare it to the Cycladic style of ancient Greece. Scholars believe that such masks as this example were tied to funerary bundles of the noble elite; however, smaller scale masks suggest they may have been attached to clothing.
  
  A slightly-larger and stylistically-similar example hammered for $31,070 at Christie's, New York "Important Pre-Columbian Art: A European Private Collection" Auction (sale 1537, November 12, 2004, lot 26): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-chontal-stone-mask-late-preclassic-ca-4384403-details.aspx
  
  Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Imre and Nicholas T. Molnar collection, acquired between 1960-1978, thence by descent to the present owners
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
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  #137528

  Condition

  Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, losses to all four corners, minor pitting holes, small nicks and chips to nose, eye brows, eyes, forehead, and peripheries, with light fading to some carved details. Light earthen and mineral deposits throughout. Old inventory sticker on verso.
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