The stone figures of the Mezcala tradition are somehow unmistakable, as are the polychrome Mayan vases from the lowlands or the Olmec sculptures. It's about styles with strong personality. In the case of the Mezcala tradition, we find a strictly regional manifestation, typical of the Middle Balsas River Basin. It is an area rich in minerals, and especially in various colored stones (some of which are often considered semiprecious) and that are susceptible to grinding and polishing to obtain shiny surfaces.
The schematism of the human figure is very typical of Mezcala pieces, with predominantly rectilinear forms, which is due in some measure to the technique of grinding with friction, in which other stones and also strings are used to shape contours and openings. In the Mezcala carvings, more than in other works, a strong determination of the technique on the style is appreciated; or in other words, technique and style are confused. It is interesting, for example, to compare the opening that separates the arms and the torso of this character with the space that separates the columns in the schematic temples of the same Mezcala tradition. Its shape is the result of making some hole or holes in the center of what will be the free space, and afterwards introducing and progressively grinding with a flat and sharp stone and with a string, until the opening reaches the ends. This is why the openings are narrower at the ends. In addition the sliding of the cord causes the openings to continue downwards and upwards a little beyond the hole itself. This continuation of the groove favors, in the case of the anthropomorphic figure, the distinction of the hands, but in the case of the temple it does not delineate any additional form, and appears rather as an error, something that the technique can not resolve.
This particular figure could be considered among those related to the anthropomorphic scheme of Teotihuacan art. The straight stillness of the body represented frontally, the greater size of the head with respect to the body, and the cranial deformation that enlarges the forehead, are, each of them, coinciding features.
The detail that simulates the appearance of a lock of hair from a hole in the headdress is a striking feature of this piece; a strand that seems to turn around and re-emerge from the front, from the other side.
The use of the drill to start the openings can be seen well at the corners of the lips, and to some extent in the eyes.
The stone figures of the Mezcala tradition are somehow unmistakable, as are the polychrome Mayan vases from the lowlands or the Olmec sculptures. It's about styles with strong personality. In the case of the Mezcala tradition, we find a strictly regional manifestation, typical of the Middle Balsas River Basin. It is an area rich in minerals, and especially in various colored stones (some of which are often considered semiprecious) and that are susceptible to grinding and polishing to obtain shiny surfaces.
