*Interesting cult mask

*Interesting cult mask

showing the face of a shaman with swollen cheeks: he is chewing tobacco or psychotropic drugs. The eyebrows are sculpted in high relief and the lips are symbolically sewn. His forehead is embellished with a conical protrusion associated with the third eye and the shaman's prescience. Mottled and slightly veined green cipolin (marble mineral), carved, polished and pierced Chontal, Guerrero region, Mexico, 400-100 B.C. 15.7 x 11.2 x 5.5 cm Provenance: former Yvon Collet collection since 1969. Sold by him to Ramis Barquet on March 02, 1995. Sotheby's sale May 16, 2008, lot no. 13 in the catalog. Former Alexandre Bernand collection. Bibliography: Carlo and Robin GAY, Chontal, éditions Balsas, Geneva 2001, p.75, pl.115 for similar works.