teocuitlatl (TK218r)

teocuitlatl (TK218r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This painted example of iconography features a jewel made of gold (teocuitlatl). It was an item demanded by the local Spanish authority figure and it was paid at a cost of great hardship by the Indigenous community of Tepetlaoztoc. The golden jewel (described in Spanish as a “joya de oro”) has the shape of a war shield and arrows, and bells hang all around the shield. It seems that this jewel has two types of bells, apparently oyohualli (small and round) and coyohualli (still small, but longer, with room for some added designs). The arrows are also interesting for the detail of how the obsidian points are tied onto the shafts. The shield has the highly prized xicalcoliuhqui step fret design of a rectangular spiral.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

For other step fret designs, see below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

la joya de oro

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Tepetlaoztoc, Codex (aka Kingsborough) (TK)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1556

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Tepetlaoztoc, East of Lake Tetzcoco

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

blue (turquoise)

red

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle, circular or rounded

tied, bound, or bundled

Keywords:

espiral rectangular, coyolli, bells, campana, campanas, cascabel, cascabeles, escudo, escudo, flecha, flechas, joyas, tributo, abusos, colonialismo, resistencia

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

teocuitla(tl), gold, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teocuitlatl
xicalcoliuhqui, a stepped fret design, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xicalcoliuhqui

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el oro

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

The Codex Kingsborough, also known as the Códice de Tepetlaoztoc, and the Memorial de los indios de Tepetlaoztoc, is not on display. It was transferred from the British Library and is now held by the British Museum. It is shared on line at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am2006-Drg-13964

Image Source, Rights:

©The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. Please also cite the <em>Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphsem>, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, 2020-present) and this URL.

Historical Contextualizing Image: