Beaker with applied figure,

ca. 1500

Aztec potters produced many kinds of finely crafted ceramics but generally preferred a plainer form of ornamentation to the lavish polychrome employed by the Eastern Nahuas, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs of southern Mexico. This outstanding example is a typical “beaker” shape. It would have been used to serve a beverage of cacao or on more restricted ritual occasions, octli the intoxicating beverage fermented from the century plant. The surface treatment is purposefully subdued, even contemporary, by today’s aesthetics. The artist used washes of red and black slip to divide the vessel. The untreated clay figure of a warrior (or warrioress) applied to the front is finely modeled. The elegant headdress, nose ornament, distinctive shield, and military posture suggests that it more likely portrays the heroic ancestor of a royal house rather than a member of the pantheon of Aztec gods. Palace feasts were the primary mechanism of social intercourse among factions of kings in Postclassic Mexico from 1200-1500 A.D. Banquets demanded a tremendous output of labor and resources. The preparations could last for weeks. When the guests arrived they were generously fed and entertained day and night with dancing. The nobles recounted the great deeds of their grandfathers with poems and songs accompanied by musicians.