tezcatl (FCbk11f210r)

This iconographic example, featuring a black-line drawing of a mirror (tezcatl), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a round mirror with a reflective center and two gray rings around the center, drawn with black lines. The mirror also has some shading at the bottom, which gives it a three-dimensionality (owing to European artistic influence). The contextualizing image shows two men working stones that are made into mirrors. One has a huictli, with which he presumably dug up his stone. The other has a stone hammer that he is using on his stone. The nearby text refers to many different kinds of mirrors (tecpiltezcatl and tlatocatezcatl, named for the nobles and the ruler, showing how mirrors could be socially calibrated) and says the white mirror is the best. The black mirror was not considered good for looking at one’s face. The text also mentions how these stone mirrors were polished with sand and glued with bat excrement.