*Personnage debout

The top of the skull is rough and the forehead is receding. The two superciliary arches in slight relief mark the bottom of the forehead. The eyes are not figured, but their location is indicated by two superficial, polished cavities set back from the arches. At the junction of the two flat cheeks, the bridge of the nose is smoothly outlined. It leads to the mouth, which is identified by a notch and a broad flat line that runs down to the bottom of the chin. The ears are not sculpted, but can be seen through the visible protrusions at the temples. The straight cheeks go down to the wide and massive lower jaw. The head rests on a broad neck, itself resting on a bulging quadrangular torso, almost devoid of shoulders. The arms, attached to the torso, are not identified, only the forearms are represented by two clear cuts at the level of the abdomen, whose oblique position suggests that they are folded and converge towards the navel. The legs, finally, are straight, short, and separated from each other by a deep, carefully filed notch. Green andesite with brown patina. Good state of conservation Mezcala - Guerrero, Mexico, 350 - 100 BC 24.8 x 7.8 x 6 cm According to the classification established by the art historian Carlo Gay (1913-1998), which groups Mezcala sculptures according to morphological and stylistic characteristics, from the oldest and simplest (M-2), to the most recent and complex (M-26), this piece belongs to the M-10 type, which represents the "classical" stage of Mezcala sculpture. Provenance: - Former Merrin Gallery collection from 1969. - Former Farzin Pourmokhtar collection. - Former Alexandre Bernand collection, 2019 Lot presented under the temporary importation regime This magnificent figure illustrates the ingenuity and sensitivity of Mezcala sculptors who were masters in the art of giving body and soul to stone for ritual and ceremonial purposes. This sculpture is carved in a beautiful green andesite, carefully polished, a rock considered precious because of its color symbolically associated with water, fertility and rebirth. It was probably part of a group of offerings buried under houses or in ceremonial centers, whose function was to pay homage to the ancestors, who thus continued to actively participate in the existence of the living from the beyond.