figure
- Museum number
- Am,St.373
- Description
-
Figurine of Aztec goddess Chalchiuhtlicue made of andesite. The figure is depicted with a banded cap, ear tassels and a fringed shoulder cape. A pleated fan is attached to the back of her head.
- Production date
- 15thC - 16thC (early)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 37 centimetres
-
Width: 19.50 centimetres
-
Depth: 17.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
McEwan 1994, p.73
Stone kneeling figures of Chalchiuhtlicue
The image of the goddes Chalchiuhtlicue ('jade skirt') figures prominently in the codices as a beautiful young woman representing the purity and preciousness of water. She is invariably painted blue, signalling her role in mythology as the wife of , mother or sister of Tlaloc, the Rain God. She is associated with spring water used to irrigate the fields and, as the patron saint of fishermen, with lakes and rivers. She also plays an important role in birth ceremonies. Each figure wears a headband adorned with large ear tassels, as well as a tasselled quechquemitl (shoulder cape) over a long skirt.
Entry also refers to Am1825,1210.6
-
Slip "St.373".
- Location
- On display (G27/dc5)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2002, London, Royal Academy, Aztecs
2003, Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Aztecs
2019-2020 22 Nov-25 May, Berlin, Deutsches Historiches Museum, Wilhelm und Alexander von Humboldt
- Acquisition date
- 1865
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am,St.373
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Am186?C5.373 (old CDMS no.)
