xicalcoliuhqui (Mdz19r)

xicalcoliuhqui (Mdz19r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example of a war shield design is called xicalcoliuhqui (usually translated as "stepped-fret"). The overall shape is, typically, of a round shield (chimalli) with a lower fringe of long feathers. The color scheme here is predominantly green and yellow, although the feathery fringe also includes turquoise blue and red. The design in the center of the shield includes stepped segments and large, bending rectangular section (in yellow, with a green background).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This is a well-known shield design. See also the well-known examples of the cuexyo shield designs below, one of which has a color scheme similar to this one. Users might also wish to search for the hieroglyph for shield by entering the term "chimalli."

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

rrodelas

Gloss Normalization:

rodelas

Gloss 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

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Feathers

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle, circular or rounded

rectangular

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

stepped

Keywords:

shields, rodelas, escudos, armas, plumas, feathers

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons:

Museum/Rare Book Notes:

chimalli. A feather mosaic reproduction at the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Salón Mexica. Photograph by Robert Haskett, 14 February 2023.

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xicalcoliuhqui, a stepped fret design, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xicalcoliuhqui
coltic, curved, bent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coltic

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 19 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 48 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).