tequixquitl (FCbk11f69v)

Tequixquitl is described as “white; with potsherds; yellow; [as fine] as soil; viscous….red saltpeter” (translation by Anderson and Dibble, Florentine Codex, Book 10, 93). The logogram is part of a scene depicting a female saltpeter seller, a tequixquinamacac. This person is “a guide to places where there is saltpeter, one who heaps up saltpeter.” She is shown seated on a mat upon which the saltpeter is also piled. There is a small pot or bowl that appears to be balanced on the top of the mound of saltpeter, which must be used to measure out the desired quantity requested by a buyer. The seller is gesturing with a pointed finger on her right hand, while her left is held out below this with fingers extended, but she does not have a speech scroll issuing from her mouth. She may be in the act of gesturing to would-be customers (see the historical contextualizing image).