Turquoise mosaic of a double-headed serpent
Aztec/Mixtec, 15th-16th century AD
From Mexico
An icon of Aztec art
This striking object was probably worn on ceremonial occasions
as a pectoral (an ornament worn on the chest). It is carved in wood
(Cedrela odorata) and covered with turquoise mosaic. The
wood is hollowed at the back.
Serpent imagery occurs throughout the
religious iconography of Mesoamerica. The serpent is associated
with several Aztec deities including Quetzalcoatl (Feathered
Serpent), Xiuhcoatl (Fire Serpent) and Mixcoatl (Cloud
Serpent) or Coatlicue (She of the Serpent Skirt), the mother of the
Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. The habit of snakes to shed their
skin each year probably led to them being used to convey ideas
concerning renewal and transformation. Likewise the ability of many
species to move freely between water, earth and the forest canopy
helped underline their symbolic role as intermediaries between the
different layers of the cosmos (underworld, earth and sky).
Spondylus (thorny oyster) shell was
used for the bright red details around the nose and mouth of both
of this object's serpent heads. Strombus (conch)
shell was used for the white teeth. Within the gaping mouths the
resin adhesive was coloured bright red with hematite. Beeswax
adheres to the edges of the empty eye sockets which were probably
originally inlaid, perhaps with iron pyrites.
The reverse of the body is undecorated,
although the surface may have originally been gilded, but the heads
are worked in mosaic on both sides. Resins from pine and
Bursera (copal) were used as adhesives for the mosaic.
E. Pasztory, Aztec art (New York, Abrams, 1983)
H.B. Nicholson and E. Quiñones Keber, Art of Aztec Mexico, treasures (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983)
C. McEwan, Ancient Mexico in the British (London, The British Museum Press, 1994)
E. Carmichael, Turquoise mosaics from Mexico (London, The British Museum Press, 1970)