enamacac (cualli) (FCbk10f47v)

This iconographic example, featuring a “good” woman bean seller (tlahueliloc enamacac), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text on the page prior to the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a woman kneeling on a large white cloth (probably a cuachtli) that is covered with beans (etl), which she is selling (namaca). There is also a tall, white, round container full of beans near her knees. This may be a measure for selling a certain quantity of beans. Behind her, on the grass, is a large sack that is tied at the top. It probably contains more beans. The beans may be black beans. The woman is shown in a ¾ view, facing right. She wears a white cotton huipilli with what may be a six-petalled flower or sun symbol on the chest patch at the bottom of the V-neck. All the fabric in this image shows shading, giving it a three-dimensionality, which reveals European artistic influences. The woman’s hair is in the traditional style (neaxtlacualli or axtlacuilli) for adult or married women, with the hair twisted up into two points above her forehead. In the air in front of the woman’s face is a glyph-like, red and white speech scroll. It has a little barb on the upper side near the start of the scroll (on the viewer’s left). To the right of the curl of the scroll is what appears to be a bead or a water droplet (a small circle with another smaller concentric circle. This codex typically provides vocabulary that critiques the “bad’ and praises the “good” behavior for each type of person or occupation. So, since this is the “good” bean seller, the additions to her speech scroll probably intend to convey something true or pleasant.