Aztec Volcanic Stone Figure of Ehecatl, Wind GodPre-Columbian, Mexico, Aztec,...
Aztec Volcanic Stone Figure of Ehecatl, Wind GodPre-Columbian, Mexico, Aztec, ca. 1200–1425 CE. A compact deity figure hewn from dense grey volcanic stone, seated with arms folded close against a blocky torso. The head projects a long, tapering beak with layered lips, the buccal mask of Ehecatl, the wind aspect of Quetzalcoatl, whose muzzle-like beak allowed him to blow the winds that swept the roads before the rains. Above sits a tiered headdress crowned by a small avian element, its stepped bands rendered in shallow relief. The vesicular basalt has been reduced with direct percussion and abrasion, its pitted surface left largely untooled across the body so that carving concentrates on face and crown. Such figures likely stood as cult effigies within household or temple contexts, receiving offerings appropriate to a god of wind, breath, and movement. Size: 13.25" W x 6" H (33.7 cm W x 15.2 cm H).
Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl occupied a peculiar place in the Mexica pantheon: the feathered serpent in his windblown guise, wearing the ehecacozcatl (cut-conch wind jewel) and the projecting duck-billed mask that is his unmistakable signature. Sixteenth-century sources record that his temples were built round rather than rectangular, so that no corner would obstruct the passage of the wind, and the best documented survives at Tlatelolco. As sweeper of the roads, Ehecatl preceded the Tlaloque, the rain bringers, and his season was the anxious interval before the storms broke over the Basin of Mexico. Volcanic stone was the sculptor's staple there, quarried from the andesite and basalt flows ringing the lake system, and its coarse vesicular structure encouraged the broad, blocky massing seen in Late Postclassic Mexica sculpture.
Provenance: NYC. collection. Ex. Arte Primitivo. 2012. Ex. Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73054Head reattached with restoration over the break line and ancient loss to the left hair curl, and a few minor scattered high point edge flakes, otherwise intact.
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Aztec Volcanic Stone Figure of Ehecatl, Wind GodPre-Columbian, Mexico, Aztec, ca. 1200–1425 CE. A compact deity figure hewn from dense grey volcanic stone, seated with arms folded close against a blocky torso. The head projects a long, tapering beak with layered lips, the buccal mask of Ehecatl, the wind aspect of Quetzalcoatl, whose muzzle-like beak allowed him to blow the winds that swept the roads before the rains. Above sits a tiered headdress crowned by a small avian element, its stepped bands rendered in shallow relief. The vesicular basalt has been reduced with direct percussion and abrasion, its pitted surface left largely untooled across the body so that carving concentrates on face and crown. Such figures likely stood as cult effigies within household or temple contexts, receiving offerings appropriate to a god of wind, breath, and movement. Size: 13.25" W x 6" H (33.7 cm W x 15.2 cm H).
Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl occupied a peculiar place in the Mexica pantheon: the feathered serpent in his windblown guise, wearing the ehecacozcatl (cut-conch wind jewel) and the projecting duck-billed mask that is his unmistakable signature. Sixteenth-century sources record that his temples were built round rather than rectangular, so that no corner would obstruct the passage of the wind, and the best documented survives at Tlatelolco. As sweeper of the roads, Ehecatl preceded the Tlaloque, the rain bringers, and his season was the anxious interval before the storms broke over the Basin of Mexico. Volcanic stone was the sculptor's staple there, quarried from the andesite and basalt flows ringing the lake system, and its coarse vesicular structure encouraged the broad, blocky massing seen in Late Postclassic Mexica sculpture.
Provenance: NYC. collection. Ex. Arte Primitivo. 2012. Ex. Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73054Head reattached with restoration over the break line and ancient loss to the left hair curl, and a few minor scattered high point edge flakes, otherwise intact.
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
