Mezcala Stone Standing Figure, Based

A broad, sloping head, a slit for a mouth, and the economy of a sculptor who never wasted a cut.

This standing figure is Mezcala, from the Balsas River, Guerrero, Mexico, and dates to 300 – 100 BCE. It is carved stone. Mezcala sculptors are known for reducing the human body to a few straight cuts and grooves. Here the head is a rounded dome with a ridge for the brow, a long nose and a simple notched mouth. A pair of grooves defines the arms against the torso, and a deep cut separates the legs. It is mounted on a stand and is 3.5 inches wide, 3.5 deep and 8 high.

Modernism, some two thousand years early.