Tall Guerrero Mezcala Andesite Axe God

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Early Fall Variety | Ancient & Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Oct 17, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-10-17 10:00:00 2019-10-17 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Early Fall Variety | Ancient & Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/early-fall-variety-ancient-ethnographic-4538
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• Lot Description
  **Originally Listed At $1500**
  
  Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Guerrero, Mezcala culture, ca. 500 to 200 BCE. An impressively sizeable, hand-carved and string-cut, deep grey-green stone (probably andesite) depicting a standing anthropomorphic axe god figure, the human physiognomy displaying appealing stylization. The ancient artisans of this region were particular adept at reducing the human body to simple, eloquent forms via a string cut technique. Note the dramatically tapered head, cut separation between the legs, and abstract facial features that ironically appeal to a modernist taste for minimalism. Size: 10.625" H (27 cm); 10.75" H (27.3 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  The form of this figure fits somewhere between and M-8 type -with its broader, flatter face, sloping cheek planes that meet in the central vertical ridge which suggests a nose, and the flatter temporal region- and an M-10 type, which according to expert Carlo Gay showed significant changes advancing them over the previous four types. For instance, note how the flat plane across the lower section of the face is an uninterrupted area as opposed to the narrow, slit mouth of earlier figures. According to Gay, "At its best, the M-10 type epitomizes Mezcala sculpture, representing an optimal solution to carving a viable portrayal of the human figure in an intractable material and with simple tools." (Carlo Gay, Mezcala Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero Mexico. New York: Balsas Publications, 1992 p. 51). For a similar example, see plate 33 on p. 51 of Gay's text.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex Ketteler Collection, Germany
  
  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.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #131945

  Condition

  Expected surface wear with old chips/abrasions to head and other high pointed areas as shown. Earthen deposits grace the surface as well.
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