malacatl (FCbk8f31v)

malacatl (FCbk8f31v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a spindle (malacatl), 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 on the same page This example shows a spindle that is partially loaded with some spun fiber that is white with black spots (seeds). The shaft of the spindle is yellow. Both ends are pointed. Below the spun fiber is a round whorl that is white with red trim and some additional, indecipherable designs (something like writing) on the bottom.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

While there is only one spindle on this page, the text refers to a simple malacatl but also to a xaxalmalacatl, which was a shallow spindle whorl that was used when spinning feathers, according to the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl. Spindles have been harvested from various sixteenth-century manuscripts included in this collection. Some are clearly glyphs and other examples that are, at minimum, revealing of iconography similar to glyphs.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

malacatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (female)

Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

horizontal

pointed (see also spiky)

spotted or mottled

Keywords:

huso, husos, espira, espiras. spinning, spindle, spiral, threads, bobina, espiral, verticilo de huso, hilatura, hilo

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

malaca(tl), spindle, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/malacatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el huso

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. 31v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/8/folio/31v/images/0 Accessed 16 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: