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Temple effigy
Mezcala
Late Formative to Early Classic periods
300 B.C.–A.D. 300
Object Place: Guerrero, Mexico
Medium/Technique
Metadiorite
Dimensions
14.3 x 10.7 x 5.2 cm (5 5/8 x 4 3/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Harriet Otis Cruft Fund
Accession Number1974.314
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsRitual objects
Mezcala sculptors often rendered columned buildings with roof combs and entrance stairways. Because no monumental buildings have survived in Guerrero, these sculptures are especially valuable as the only extant renderings of Mezcala architecture.
DescriptionStone sculpture depicting a columned building atop a pyramidal platform with central staircase and topped with a flat roof and roof "comb", the latter frequently decorated with painted or sculpted imagery relevant to the building's function. These building effigies are valuable sources concerning Mezcala architecture, of which no monumental buildings have survived because most were likely made of perishable materials which also may have been reused at a later date or intentionally destroyed during social and political upheavals.
ProvenanceWith Teochita, Inc., New York, by 1974; to MFA, June 1974, purchase.