Labret,

1400–1520

In Mesoamerica the labret, or lip-plug, was a piece of jewelry worn only by noble males in Central Mexico. Inserted through a pierced hole in the lower lip, a labret qualified the wearer's speech and breath as precious. The Aztec term for king, tlatoani, literally means "speaker," attesting to the value of refined, poetic rhetoric. As with most Aztec jewelry, these pieces were actually fabricated by artisans from allied groups to the east, including the Eastern Nahuas, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs. This example is unique in the artist's choice of a variety of obsidian with a high hematite content, providing its distinctive red color. The combination of the red hue with the greenish blue color of the turquoise mosaic results in a striking contrast. Turquoise was considered by the Aztecs to be more precious than gold, and they received it principally in tribute from the Pacific coastal region of Oaxaca. The Mixtecs imported large quantities of turquoise through middlemen who shipped it by canoe or sailing raft from the north. It was transported as tesserae (small tiles), which were then carried by Chichimec traders over long distances across formidable mountain ranges and deserts to west Mexico, where it was redistributed and eventually transformed into remarkable creations of mosaic sculpture and ornament.