cuicani (FCbk1p47)

This iconographic example of singers (cuicanimeh, plural of cuicani) comes from the Florentine Codex, Book 1, page 47, of the World Digital Library edition. It is meant to provide comparative material for the use of speech scrolls for singing, the hitting of the huehuetl or huēhuētl (upright drum) with the hands, and the striking of the teponaztli (horizontal drum) with drumsticks. There may be a jaguar pelt around the top of the huehuetl. Also, one can just barely make out the edge of the stepped cutout (a zigzag shape) on the side of the wooden cylinder that comprises the huehuetl. The light orange coloring of the huehuetl may indicate that it is wooden, but the teponaztli is a darker brown, and it is most certainly wooden. It has cutouts along the top for striking different tones We also see some feathers in the hair of more than one singer, and the nearest one has a red tie (leather?) holding the feathers onto his head. They wear white capes tied at the shoulder, they sit with their knees up, and their feet are bare, and at least one sits on a handwoven mat (petlatl). All the singers and musicians are male. There are five scrolls, all white, all curling upward.