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Mosaic Shield

Mixtec (Ñudzavui)

Not on view

This ceremonial shield, one of the few surviving examples from ancient Mexico, is constructed of an estimated fourteen thousand pieces of turquoise and other stones. Around the rim are twenty-eight perforations that once may have held feathers. The central scene depicts a woman descending from a sky band; she is flanked by two richly dressed men holding ceremonial staffs. The curved mountain below them—a hieroglyphic place sign known from painted codices and historical documents—refers to Culhuacan, a site in central Mexico revered as a place of mythical origin. The style and iconography of the shield follow the pictorial conventions of Mixtec painted manuscripts.



Este escudo ceremonial, uno de los pocos ejemplos conservados del antiguo México, fue elaborado con aproximadamente catorce mil teselas de turquesa y otras gemas. Se pueden observar veintiocho perforaciones en el borde, en las que posiblemente se hayan atado plumas. La escena central reproduce dos hombres suntuosamente vestidos que sostienen bastones ceremoniales al lado de una mujer. La montaña curva debajo de ellos muestra un lugar conocido gracias al hallazgo de códices pintados y documentos históricos; hace referencia a Culhuacán, en el centro de México, un lugar muy respetado como sitio de origen mítico. El estilo y la iconografía siguen las convenciones pictóricas de los manuscritos pintados mixtecas.

Mosaic Shield, Turquoise, wood, stone, tree resin, Mixtec (Ñudzavui)

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