Petlacalcatl (Mdz70r)

Petlacalcatl (Mdz70r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example is provided here as a comparison for the place name Petlacalco. It shows a man in profile, facing toward the viewer's right, sitting on a woven mat (petlatl)] with a woven back, which comprises a throne (what would be called an icpalli). He is also wearing a cape with a multi-colored pattern along the edge, and he is speaking, with turquoise-blue volutes emerging from his mouth. His hair comes to just below his ears, and he has bangs. Behind him is a house (calli) or other type of building.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The word petlacalcatl is a title, held by a governor or a treasurer. While we are including this as an example of iconography, the scene comprises elements that are glyphic, such as the turquoise-blue volutes or speech scrolls, the petlatl and icpalli standing for governance, the decorated cape (probably a tilmatli) standing for elite status, and the seated position with the knees up under the chin, which is standard for elite men. If this were a glyph, one might consider it fully logographic (if meant literally as a place for storing woven mats) or fully phonographic (if referring to the treasurer).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

mayordo
mo
petlacalcatl

Gloss Normalization: 

mayordomo petlacalcatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

oficios, señores, tilmas, petates, casas, edificios, autoridad, gobierno indígena

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

petacalcatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el tesorero, el mayordomo que tiene cargo de los tributos

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 70 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 150 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0)

Historical Contextualizing Image: