comallalli (FCbk11f231v)

This iconographic example, featuring a black-line sketch in a rectangle of sticky clay for making griddles (comallalli), 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 on the page (f. 231r) prior to 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. In his hands, he holds a large lump of clay (contlalli) for making pottery. He also has a bundle of cattails on the ground in front of him. 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 are two griddles (comalli), flat round disks. The text refers to reed plant fiber as a substance mixed into the clay. The landscape setting shows European artistic influence.