Tlilpotonqui (TK211v)

This painted simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the personal name, Tlilpotonqui, the ruler of Tepetlaoztoc at the time an encomienda (grant of tributes in kind and in labor) was created by Hernando Cortés in about 1523 (see: Perla Valle P. Memorial, 1993, 26) and given to the Spaniard Diego de Ocampo. In the contextualizing image, one can see Tlilpotonque standing and speaking (to the encomendero, holder of the encomienda), apparently protesting the heavy colonial taxation. He is dressed in an elaborate three-dimensional cloak with what would be called the tenixyo design (a border with red, black, and white eyes) and fancy sandals. His cloak in the next year (f. 212v) is yet another elaborate design. The glyph for Tlilpotonqui is four round black (tlilli) dots or balls formed together in a quadripartite shape. This sign supplies the phonetic start to the name, Tlil, but also the semantic reference to the color of the device that he is named after, a black feather device or a rare bean. It has the look of a modern-day playing card sign of a club, but without the stem.