xicalli (FCbk11f90r)

xicalli (FCbk11f90r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This element showing a gourd bowl (xicalli) has been carved from a compound glyph for a noun referring to a serpent, the xicalcoatl. This element shows a flat bowl that has been painted with alternating blue and green along the outer rim, then a row of red shapes, followed at the bottom with yellow paint. The inside of the bowl is painted a solid red with a blue rim.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Other examples of the xicalli in this digital collection include some with elaborate, multicolor designs. Sometimes these are like bowls, and sometimes they are like cups. They can have different shapes and designs.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

xicalli

Gloss/Text 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:

Containers, Dishes, Eating Utensils

Plants, Flora

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

profile view

Keywords:

taza, tazas, cuenco, cuencos, vaso, vasos, recipiente, recipientes, cups, bowls, containers, vessels, recipient, recipients

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xical(li), a jícara, a gourd vessel, 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. 90r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/90r/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.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: