Perhaps it would be more accurate to view this piece as a sub-product derived from the Mezcala tradition than as a figure pertaining to the Mezcala. This piece, together with piece number 981, is also a small anthropomorphic burial sculpture. But at the same time they have very different features and, above all, represent a stylistic orientation that is distinct from Mezcala conventions in several aspects. They are figures that are not made from colored or translucent stones, but with dark gray stones of the appearance of basalt. Furthermore, it is evident that the polishing is aimed at obtaining volumes and details of the body, as opposed to the more usual procedure in Mezcala pieces, which is polishing to get straight lines or cuts and then a sheen.
This figure presents a complex challenge. Its dimensions, the fact that it is a human head carved in stone, without a headdress or other element that links it to distinct regional traditions, in addition to the information we have of its connection with the collection of pieces of the Mezcala tradition, indicate to us that the work would belong to the context and region of production of these Mezcala works. The eyes, slightly puffy and with a groove like that of a coffee bean, coincide with some designs of Mezcala figures of the type called chontal.
However, as occurs in the case of piece 981, the naturalist orientation in the treatment of the set is removed from the general conventions of the Mezcala tradition. Note, for example, the work of the lips, the cheekbones and the nostrils. But the decisive point, in which its inclusion in the Mezcala corpus demands a label informing regarding the exceptional nature of this piece, is the suggestion of movement or potential movement that is seen in the figure. The position of the head and the location of the right arm slightly above the left indicate an inclination, which is emphasized by a completely unusual feature: the forearms are not at the same height. One rises and the other lowers, breaking the symmetry. All of this leads us to consider this piece in particular as a probable Mezcala figure with a very unique behavior.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to view this figure a sub-product derived from the Mezcala tradition than as a piece pertaining to the Mezcala. This piece, together with piece number 982, is also a small anthropomorphic burial sculpture. But at the same time they have very different features and, above all, represent a stylistic orientation that is distinct from Mezcala conventions in several aspects.
They are figures that are not made from colored or translucent stones, but with dark gray stones of the appearance of basalt. Furthermore, it is evident that the polishing is aimed at obtaining volumes and details of the body, as opposed to the more usual procedure in Mezcala pieces, which is polishing to get straight lines or cuts and then a sheen.
This piece meets certain compositional rules of Mezcala tradition figures: the strict symmetry, the schematics of the extremities, the geometric solution of the legs and of the area between them. A feature that we could almost consider a diagnosis of Mezcala works is very notable: the arms alongside the body and the forearms folded in a right angle over the abdomen. However, all of these features are executed from a radically different focus than the Mezcala tradition style. In this case the shift toward a naturalist treatment of the face, the abdomen and, in general, the corporal volume, is very notable. This piece is one of the few of the Mezcala tradition representing a woman.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to view this piece as a sub-product derived from the Mezcala tradition than as a figure pertaining to the Mezcala. This piece, together with piece number 981, is also a small anthropomorphic burial sculpture. But at the same time they have very different features and, above all, represent a stylistic orientation that is distinct from Mezcala conventions in several aspects. They are figures that are not made from colored or translucent stones, but with dark gray stones of the appearance of basalt. Furthermore, it is evident that the polishing is aimed at obtaining volumes and details of the body, as opposed to the more usual procedure in Mezcala pieces, which is polishing to get straight lines or cuts and then a sheen.
