icpaxiquipilli (FCbk8f46r)

icpaxiquipilli (FCbk8f46r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a cotton bag (icpaxiquipilli) for carrying incense (copalli) and maguey spines (huitztli), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making potential comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. This example shows a sack made from white cotton with a tie up near the mouth. Black vertical lines above and below the tie give the bag three-dimensionality, showing European artistic influences The bottom of the sack is rounded, and the bag is apparently full despite not having visible shapes that might convey something of the contents copalli and huitztli. On {a href=”https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/book/8/folio/46v/images/0”>folio 46v one can see how men hold their tlemaitl along with their huitztli, and the latter are fairly large. To put all that together into a cotton sack might be limited to just one’s personal group of materials.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This is the first specifically cotton-cloth bag in this collection. There are some examples of the more generic xiquipilli, which could contain incense, cacao, coins, and other valuables. The earliest ones were of an elaborate design with tassels, fringed tops, and looping handles, and there may have been regional variations, as some were square. Gradually the term xiquipilli shifted to refer to what appeared to be more of a European-style bag, as shown here.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

icpaxiquipilli

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke

Gender (male)

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

three-dimensionality

tied, bound, or bundled

Keywords:

bolsa, bolsas, saco, sacos, atado, incienso, espina, espinas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

icpaxiquipil(li), a cotton bag for incense, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icpaxiquipilli
xiquipil(li), a sack or bag, or the number 8,000, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xiquipilli
copal(li), incense, resin gum, “copal” in Spanish, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/copalli
huitz(tli), spines, often used for self-bloodletting sacrifice, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la bolsa de algodón

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 8: Kings and Lords", fol. 46r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/8/folio/46r/images/0 Accessed 24 August 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: