Mezcala Stone "Axe God" Figural Pendant

Late Preclassic to Protoclassic period, ca. 500 – 100 BCE

Carved from a dense, mottled grayish-green hardstone (metadiorite / andesitic stone) with warm buff oxidation and natural mineral veining, this stylized anthropomorphic pendant belongs to the renowned lithic tradition of the Mezcala culture in the Balsas River basin of Guerrero, Mexico. Closely associated with the Type M-14 or related classic schematic forms, the figure originated as a functional or votive celt (axe god) transformed into a human likeness through string-sawing, pecking, and abrasive polishing. The head is defined by a heavy, squared brow, deep diagonal eye sockets, and a raised, triangular nose ridge that drops toward an abraded horizontal mouth slit.
The torso retains the planar, geometric massing typical of the culture, articulated by a grooved neckline, broad rectangular shoulders, and shallow horizontal incisions marking the arms crossed over the abdomen. A deep vertical cut separates the short, columnar legs, reinforcing the iconic celt-like tapering profile. At the crown, a biconically drilled suspension hole indicates the figure was worn as an elite pectoral pendant or talisman prior to its ritual placement in a burial context. Intact and finely preserved with smooth ancient surface wear, natural caliche-like earthen deposits in the recesses

Provenance: Private Mercer Island WA collection by descent from Ruth Goldwyn Capps & Henry McClure Capps (known as Mac) who was an art director and production designer for TV & films in the mid-1950s.