Mezcala Stone Standing Figure - PF.2645,Origin: Guerrero, MexicoCirca: 500 BC to 400 AD,Dimensions: 5.25" (13.3cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Mezcala,Medium: Stone. The people of Mezcala, a region in the central potion of the Mexican state of Guerrero, developed a unique art based on the cult of the votive Celt, an axe used for hafting. Although the Mezcala culture probably sprang from the same roots as the Ancient Olmec, their relative isolation in the Mountain valleys resulted in a stone-centered artistic culture, which developed and flourished independent of neighboring influences. As evidenced in this striking Celt, carved in the form of a male figure, their highly stylized and abstract form of rendering resulted in a powerful image, one that instantly evokes spiritual magnetism and energy. The skilled abstraction of form, which highlights and accentuates only the essence of the figure, is reminiscent of Ancient Cycladic art of 4000 years ago, as well as early twentieth-century art, and in fact served to inspire these early cubist and abstract artists. To hold this ancient and spirited stone figure, with its smooth, tactile surface, is to reach across time and space and at once capture the sensory spirit of the ancient culture that created it.

Antiquities
Ancient Central America & Mexico