cuachtli (Mdz30r)

cuachtli (Mdz30r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This glyphic element for a large cotton cloth (cuachtli has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Cuachquezaloyan. The cloth is outlined in black but its color is white or neutral. It is rectangular.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
horizontal
rectangular
Keywords: 

cloaks, cloths, blankets, mantas, cobijas

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

A cloth, perhaps a cuachtli. This rare survivor, a manta fashioned from white cotton bordered with alternating white and blue bands, was found in Ofrenda 102 at the site of the Templo Mayor. According to the Museo del Templo Mayor, the stitching transversing the piece probably was used to attach feathers, leading this piece to be identified as an iztac ihuitl tilmantli, or feathered white manta. Staining is thought to have come from other archaeological pieces found in association with it. Photograph by Stephanie Wood, 15 February 2023; this commentary by Robert Haskett, who has paraphrased information provided by the Museo.

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

cuach(tli), a large cotton cloth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuachtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la manta

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 30 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 70 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Cuachquetzaloyan (Mdz30r)