tezcatl (Mdz27r)

tezcatl (Mdz27r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for mirror (tezcatl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tezcatepec. It consists of a round black disc with a red rim and four white down feathers evenly placed around the perimeter.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The use of feathers around the "smoking" mirror of Tezcatlipoca is common. See Ian Mursell's article in Mexicolore on "smoking mirrors" for information about the use of mirrors in Mesoamerica from pre-Classic times forward, their use in divination, and their association with divine forces.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Feathers
Religion (Indigenous)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
red
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
symmetry
Keywords: 

mirrors, espejos

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

tezca(tl), mirror, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcatl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

mirror

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 15 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 64 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Tezcatepec (Mdz27r)

Tezcatlipoca (TR3v)