aztaquemitl (Mdz21v)
This element has been carved from the compound glyph for the place name, Aztaquemecan. It is a small garment (quemitl) worn on the chest with a tie that would have gone around the back of the neck, holding up two rows of four white tail feathers per row. They are the feathers of the heron or egret (aztatl).
Stephanie Wood
The quemitl is a garment, a ritual vestment worn on the chest, not a bib worn to catch drool or spilled food, although it is sometimes translated as bib. The strap at the top of the quemitl could be made of leather. Another example of a quemitl in the Codex Mendoza is the cuauhquemitl, also made with feathers, but with the wing feathers of eagles in this case.
Some Nahua women in Mexico still today wear a blouse called a quechquemitl. The quech- part seems to refer to a garment that goes over the head or around the neck. The quechquemitl) has a point in front and back, differing from the better known blouse, the huipilli. This image shows the quechquemitl) on the left and the huipilli on the right. Frances Karttunen states that when quemitl) is not preceded by quech-, it is typically preceded by tla-, as in something worn. The verb quemi, means to put something on, to wear a garment.
Stephanie Wood
c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest
Stephanie Wood
quemitl, quimitl, quemetl, aztatl, aztaquemitl, bib, garment
aztaquemi(tl), Snowy Egret feather bib, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aztaquemitl
prenda de pecho con plumas de garceta
Stephanie Wood
Codex Mendoza, folio 21 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 53 of 188.
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).