xicalli (FCbk11f100r)

xicalli (FCbk11f100r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This element of a gourd-based drinking cup (xicalli), has been carved from the compound glyph of the name for a butterfly, xicalpapalotl. It features a frontal view of a cup with a stem. Three circular designs are visible on the cup. The stem has a wide base, flaring out.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Examples of the xicalli from the Matrícula de Huexotzinco of 1560 have a similar look to this one, with the stem. Xical was apparently a popular name for men. The xicalli of earlier times was less likely to have the stem.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as phonogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Containers, Dishes, Eating Utensils

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle, circular or rounded

frontal view

Keywords:

copa, copas, taza, tazas, cuenco, cuencos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xical(li), a jícara, a gourd vessel (cup or bowl) for drinking, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xicalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la jícara

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 11: Earthly Things", fol. 100r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/100r/images/0 Accessed 16 October 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.”