CHONTAL - Figure

Personnage debout - CHONTAL - GUERRERO - Mexique - Early TEOTIHUACAN - 350 - 100 B.C. - Pre-Columbian

Height : 31.7 cm

Width : 11.5 cm

Depth : 4.6 cm

Speckled green diorite

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

This standing figure presents an unusual physiognomy. His head is indeed longer than his bust, which in turn is longer then his legs. The head, ears included, is almost as wide as the body. These disproportions naturally bring our attention to the face, alternating raw and polished surfaces, edges and curves, full and hollow.

The head, elongated with a high forehead, has its top levelled. The incised eyebrows form a strongly overhead arch at the level of the root of the nose. The oval eyes are hollow and left bare, underlined by a fine incision. Lines engraved above and below the eyes accentuate the gaze. On both sides, the hilly shaped ears have been carved in high relief.

The straight nose is fitted in the middle of this imposing face in an uprightness that is disturbed only by lightly engraved wings of the nose. There is a deep furrow between the nose and the fleshy lipped mouth that has been roughly carved (like the eyes). The chin is straight, without volume.

Planted on its square shoulders, the head conceals the neck that one guesses wide. In the prolongation of the shoulders, the arms are disciplined, stretched along the body. The legs, on the other hand, are slightly bent, judging by the roundness of the knees. The bottom of the rounded belly is marked. The feet finally, like the base of pillars, support the whole of this compact and robust body. They are represented by a small recess on a gentle slope and have vertical incisions to mark the toes.

On the back, the surface of the body is slightly concave at the level of the head and in relief at the level of the buttock and feet.