contlalli (FCbk11f231r)

This iconographic example, featuring clay (contlalli) for making a range of earthenware, 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 black-ink sketch of a Nahua potter sitting in profile (facing right) on a short woven seat (probably a type of icpalli). He wears a white cotton cloak (perhaps a tilmatli/tilmahtli) tied behind his neck. He also has a visible waist band from what is likely a loincloth. In his hands, he holds a large lump of clay (contlalli) for making pottery. He also has a bundle of firewood on the ground in front of him. When he collected clay, apparently he also collected cattails for firing the clay later on. A reed (probably acatl, given the glyph-like showing of water at the plant’s base) stands tall between the potter and his works, which include different sizes of pots with different types of handles, plus a flat basin. The text refers to reed plant fiber as a substance mixed into the clay. In the foreground near the pottery is a glyph of a large, hairy-looking stone (with its two-colored diagonal stripes across the middle). At the top of the rectangle containing this scene there is a dark sky band and a few clouds. The landscape setting shows European artistic influence.