figure
- Museum number
- Am1825,1210.1
- Description
-
Stone figure of the Aztec fire-serpent Xiuhcoatl, with with the head of a serpent, short legs finishing in claws and a curved snout. The end of the figure's tail is formed by the conventional Mexican year symbol (xihuitl): a triangle, like the solar ray sign, and two entwined trapezes.
- Production date
- 1300-1521
- Dimensions
-
Height: 77 centimetres
-
Width: 60 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
See MS "Acquisitions in the Department of Antiquities since the year 1825" (in Medieval and Later Dept. Register Cupboards).
-
McEwan 2009
The Aztecs conceived of heat and fire in many ways. This dynamic work captures the instant when Xiuhcoatl as a sky "dragon", with clawed limbs and fanged jaws agape, strikes from on high. It embodies the potent discharge of energy that takes place when lighting as a jagged, serpentine bolt of fire plunges earthward from the heavens. The figure's tail is formed by the conventional symbol for the Mexican year ("xihuitl") comprising a triangle and two entwined trapezes. It was probably originally incorporated into a temple façade, perhaps flanking a stairway.
- Location
- On display (G27/od)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1990 20 Oct-9 Dec, Japan, Tokyo, Setagaya Art Museum, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.208
1991 5 Jan-20 Feb, Japan, Yamaguchi, Prefectural Museum of Art, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.208
1991 9 Mar-7 May, Japan, Osaka, National Museum of Art, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.208
- Acquisition date
- 1825
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1825,1210.1
