xiquipilli (TR37v)

xiquipilli (TR37v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been taken from the compound place name, Xiquipilco. It is a xiquipilli, a looping-handled bag with a horizontal fringe below the loop, and three tassels, one on each side and one at the bottom of the bag. The tassels vaguely resemble the glyph for rain (quiyahuitl), but upside-down. The front of the bag has a cross (+) in the middle of a white area.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The sack was a traditional bag that held either cacao beans or incense, probably 8,000 pieces, given that the bag ended up serving to represent the number eight thousand. It is unclear here what material (cotton?) went into its construction.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Telleriano-Remensis, Codex (TR)
Date of Manuscript: 

1578

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
numbers
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Chocolate, Cocoa, Cacao
Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke
Numbers, Math
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
tied, bound, or bundled
vertical, upright
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

xiquipil(li), a special sack or bag for cacao beans or incense, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xiquipilli

Image Source: 

The Codex Telleriano-Remensis is hosted on line by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f100.item. We have taken this detail shot from folio 37 verso.

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is not copyright protected, but please cite Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France or cite this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, 2020–present).

See Also: 

Xiquipilco (TR37v)