Stone Indian Head

[lincha]

Found in Northern Mexico in 1970's. Was given to me as a present. Anybody know who could authenticate this piece and give me an appraisal.

 

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[The Grim Reaper]

It looks Pre-Columbian to me. Probably Mayan and it looks like it was broken off a larger piece.

Contact Joshua Ream from this board and send him a personal message. He collects these kind of things and could probably help you out.

 

[joshuaream]

It looks like a nice Tlatilco head. It feels like stone, but is pottery. A famous Mexican artist named Covarrubias 'discovered' the type site. He visted the area because of the quality of the clay and it's stone like qualities when finished, and noticed the archaeological material that the locals were finding.

It was probably made around Lake Texcoco close to Mexico City or at Tlapacoya to the south, but they were traded everywhere. They are quite a bit earlier than anything Mayan, Aztec, etc. roughly contemporary with the Olmec era.)

I don't think you need to authenticate it, it looks good and there really isn't a market to sell fakes since it's a fragment. They sell in Mexico as tourist items for a couple of dollars, I've seen them sold here for anywhere between $5 and $50 on eBay and at auctions.

Found in Northern Mexico in 1970's. Was given to me as a present. Anybody know who could authenticate this piece and give me an appraisal.

 

[lincha]

Thanks for the info guys. This was found in Cerritos San Luis Potosi Mexico by a construction worker. Looked on Ebay for similar items seems like selling for $120.00 or a little more. Most of the others dont have paint on them, mine still has some. Josh any reason why there are holes in the mouth of these items?

 

[joshuaream]

San Juan de los Cerritos, I could see it coming from that area. It's been a lot of years since I studied that area, but I think it was primarily Huastec at the time, which would over lap with the height of the Tlatilco culture. Probably a trade item from about 1000 BCE (3000 years old.) The Huastecs were a Mayan people, and were always forced to pay tribute to the much stronger powers of central mexico. The Aztecs conquered them shortly before the Spanish arrived, and they were one of the tribes that help the Spanish defeat the Aztecs.

The style of the eye and mouth is an Olmecoid influence, they usually started by pressing into the clay or drilling into the stone in the corners of the eye and mouth, and going from there. I'm not sure why, but it's what makes these pieces so identifiable.

Thanks for the info guys. This was found in Cerritos San Luis Potosi Mexico by a construction worker. Looked on Ebay for similar items seems like selling for $120.00 or a little more. Most of the others dont have paint on them, mine still has some. Josh any reason why there are holes in the mouth of these items?