malacatl (MH504v)

malacatl (MH504v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph of a spindle (malacatl) in a frontal view represents an occupation. It is not glossed as malacatl, but it is obvious that it is a spindle. It has a whorl or weight at the bottom and a load of thread--as indicated by diagonal stripes. This occupation (a part of textile production) pertains to a man in this case.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The thread in this case is probably cotton, which is a product of the autonomous era, but the cotton fluff that was being spun, which usually hangs from the top of the spindle in earlier glyphs, is not showing here. See examples from the Codex Mendoza below, where the unspun cotton part has U-shapes (seeds?) in it.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
frontal view
striped
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

spindles, husos, huso, textiles

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

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

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el huso

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 504v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=88&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

See Also: 

malacatl (Mdz37r)

malacatl (Mdz59r)