tecciztli (TK21r)
This example of iconography shows a tribute cloth with the elaborate design of a cross-section of what we presume is a conch shell (tecciztli). The shell is white with a green tie and a red background. A gold border goes around the red rectangle that comprises the cloth. It would appear that this textile is meant to capture a necklace with a shell pendant. The design may partly be made from feathers, as the gloss refers to the cape or blanket of plumes.
Stephanie Wood
The conch shell was a valuable cultural item that got to the Valley of Mexico through trade and tribute from the Gulf and Caribbean, but even from the Pacific Ocean. It was very important as a musical instrument, akin to a trumpet in European culture (not in substance but in its role in music and its call on the battlefield). But this shell had many uses, such as in jewelry. The interior coil of many shells, but especially the conch, seemed to have a particular cultural appeal to Nahuas. Perhaps it was reminiscent of swirling winds, clouds, and water, all associated with agricultural fertility. A divine force called Tecciztecatl was believed to inhabit the shell and had an association with the moon. [See: Yoshi Yoshitani, Beneath the Moon, 2020, 59.]
Stephanie Wood
las mantas de pluma
Stephanie Wood
c. 1556
Stephanie Wood
shells, conchas, caracoles, plumas, mantas, tributos, collares, necklaces, pendants, tecciz
Photo taken by Robert Haskett at the Templo Mayor 2/15/2023.
tecciz(tli), conch shell from the sea, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecciztli
la concha, o el caracol
Stephanie Wood
The Codex Kingsborough, also known as the Códice de Tepetlaoztoc, and the Memorial de los indios de Tepetlaoztoc, is not on display. It was transferred from the British Library and is now held by the British Museum. It is shared on line at, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am2006-Drg-13964. Image 40. In Perla Valle's pagination of 1992, this is f. 21, lam. A (i.e. f. 21r.).
©The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
