CHONTAL - Figure

Standing Figure - CHONTAL - GUERRERO - Mexico - 350 – 100 B.C - Pre-Columbian

Height : 30.1 cm

Width : 11.1 cm

Depth : 6.4 cm

Green-grey porphyry trachyandesite

Documents (originals) provided to the acquirer:

- Certificate of authenticity of the Galerie Mermoz,

Santo Micali, Expert, (CNE) Compagnie Nationale des Experts

- Certificate of Art Loss Register

- Passport of free circulation

- Microanalysis report

- Invoice

In praise of simplicity, this standing figure displays a sobriety which owes as much to his rough stone barely polished than its purified physiognomy. The face contains only the essential: thick eyebrows slightly inclined and a long and wide nose, forming the characteristic T of works of art of Chontal. As if retreated in the stone, the eyes, the ears and mouth are nonexistent. And yet, one perceives his deep look created by the shadows under the arch of the eyebrows.

Seen in profile, we observe that the head leans forward and that the upper part is curved. The rounded head seems to have been slightly polished. At the level of the cheekbones, the face starts to change, it flares in the width. In the middle, the nose is like a small hill that fades down. On either side, the broad cheeks fall gently down to the bottom of the face in an arc. If one looks closely, we can notice that these cheeks are slightly asymmetrical, the right being a little wider than the left.

The head is resting on a broad neck with small and drooping shoulders. The arms, represented by a groove, form a unity with the rectangular bust. The forearms folded down on the lower belly visually encircle the torso. The short legs are united against each other up to the level of the feet. Only a rough furrow allows us to distinguish them.

This work of art is a fine example of the talent of the craftsmen of Guerrero who, with a real economy of means, were able to give life to these expressive and timeless figures