Xico (MH736r)

Xico (MH736r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of a honeybee or bumblebee (xicotli) is included here as an example of iconography because we do not have a gloss that identifies the man’s Nahuatl name as “Xico.” Some men did hold this name. Here, the man in question is called Diego Almeda. He is dressed as a tecuhtli (lord) and sits in a building that could well be a teccalli (palace). The bee (xicotli) is drawn in exquisite detail with eyes, striped wings and body, and curling antennae.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In the sixteenth century, there was a metaphorical diphrase found in the Florentine Codex, "xicotli pipiolti," which referred to people who got invited to spend time with the nobles. [See: Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, eds. Paul Kirchhoff, Lina Odena Güemes, y Luis Reyes García (México: CISINAH, INAH-SEP, 1976), 163.] Thus, perhaps Xico was a name that meant privileged or spoiled.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Politics, Power, Governance
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
facing left
horizontal
Keywords: 

bees, abejas, abejorros, jicotes, insects, insectos, nombres de hombres

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

xico(tli), a large honey bee, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xicotli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Abejorro

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 736r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=550&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Xico (MH483r)

Xico (MH615v)

Xico (MH843v)

Xico (MH679r)