Jalisco Preclassic Figure with Child, Chapala style, Late Preclassic, circa 300-100 BC

The dramatically stylized heart-shaped head of this sculpture tapers into a thin leaf-like section, giving a graceful sculptural movement to the seated mother with her infant. The tiny facial features deeply recessed within the broad sweep of the face imbue her with a trance-like calmness. The prominent multiple earrings are also featured on the small separately-modeled infant resting within her rounded and folded legs.

The abstract stylization of this figure bears a charming similarity to a 1948 painting by Jean Dubuffet entitled Chamelier, which David Solinger acquired in 1954 from Pierre Matisse Gallery, the same year as he purchased the present sculpture from Sidney Janis Gallery in New York.