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Tabard and Necklace
Not on view
This impressive tabard consists of 1,446 plaques and is accompanied by a 245-bead necklace. It may be a ceremonial cuirass (breastplate), as similar garments are depicted on warriors. Although shells are an eminently aquatic material, reddish ones, called tapachtli in Nahuatl—a language spoken in central Mexico—possibly symbolized fire. The piece may refer to atl-tlachinolli (meaning "water and fire"), a Nahuatl metaphoric couplet that signifies the union of opposing complementary forces in the cosmos and alludes to sacred war.
Esta impresionante coraza está compuesta por 1466 placas y está acompañada por un collar de 245 cuentas. Dado que fueron representadas prendas similares en guerreros, esta obra debe haber sido una coraza ceremonial. Si bien la coraza está hecha de conchas, un material acuático sumamente importante, es probable que las conchas de color rojizo (llamadas tapachtli por los Nahuas) hayan simbolizado el fuego. La pieza seguramente hace referencia a atl-tlachinolli ("agua y fuego"), un verso metafórico náhuatl que significa la unión de las fuerzas opuestas complementarias en el cosmos y que se refiere a la guerra sagrada.
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