xima (Mdz70r)

This example of iconography shows the action of working with wood (cutting, chipping, shaving, etc.), and so we have given it the Nahuatl verb xima. It is a detail from a scene (see the contextualizing image) involving a woodworker or carpinter (carpintero, as the gloss says in Spanish) performing this action. The detail we have isolated shows the man's two hands, his left one holding a branch of terracotta-colored wood and his right hand holding an ax or hatchet. The hatchet has a curved wooden handle, and tied to the upper end is a triangular blade. The man's skin and the wooden handle are both a tan color, and the blade is pinkish--probably copper. The blade is tied to the wood with a white cord or leather thong. Two, small, triangular chips of wood are suspended in the air between the piece of wood and the hatchet, providing a sense of movement.