A CHONTAL STONE MASK
A CHONTAL STONE MASK

LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.

Details
A CHONTAL STONE MASK
Late Preclassic, ca. 300-100 B.C.
Of trapezoidal form with wide facial plane distinguished by prominent brows, eyes inlaid with mother-of-pearl, aquiline nose and parted lips, the reverse concave; in green and white speckled stone, pierced at the top of the head.
Height 6 in. (15 cm.)
Provenance
Carlo Gay Collection

Lot Essay

Masks and heads are a characteristic of Chontal art whose sculptors produced far more heads than any other votive objects. The relative abundance of these facial representations, and the care and inventiveness expanded on their manufacture, attests to their importance in the Chontal system of beliefs.

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