Jose Pinal (1913 - 1983) was a well known Mexican woodcarver. This piece was purchased in Cancun in 1980, and is in perfect condition. 11.5" length, 4" width, 8.5" height, signed by the artist on the base. It has been kept from cracking by applying teak oil annually.
Chac mool (also spelled chac-mool) is the term used to refer to a particular form of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sculpture depicting a reclining figure with its head facing 90 degrees from the front, supporting itself on its elbows and supporting a bowl or a disk upon its stomach. These figures possibly symbolised slain warriors carrying offerings to the gods; the bowl upon the chest was used to hold sacrificial offerings, including tamales, tortillas, tobacco, turkeys, feathers and incense, or to receive sacrificed human hearts. Chac mools were often associated with sacrificial stones or thrones. Aztec chac mools bore water imagery and were associated with Tlaloc, the rain god. Their symbolism placed them on the frontier between the physical and supernatural realms, as intermediaries with the gods. The chac mool form of sculpture first appeared around the 9th century AD in the Valley of Mexico and the northern Yucatán Peninsula.
Price firm. I cannot ship or deliver the sculpture. If this ad is posted, it is still available.
