Bowl with image of Xochiquetzal (Flower-Quetzal Bird),

1350–1521

This drinking bowl depicts the upper torso and head of an Eastern Nahua goddess. Her hair falls down the back of her head behind a large earspool and pendant, and she wears a crown featuring two spars tipped with large flowers. The top of the head is surmounted by a bloodletter used for the ritual of auto-sacrifice and by a large jewel, from which is emitted a scroll of mist similar in form to the elaborate ornamentation of the rim. The objects held in her hands are less defined. One appears to be a small bag, possibly containing tobacco, a substance used as often for ritual offerings as for smoking. The flower crown and the distinctive red bands of face paint framing the eye identify the goddess as Xochiquetzal, "Flower-Quetzal Bird" in the Nahuatl language, but the two vertical bands of color over the jaw are more typical of the water goddess Chalchiutlique, or "Jade Skirt." The two goddesses were closely associated in legend, and the painter may have intended to invoke a relationship through a fusion of their characteristics. Xochiquetzal and her consort Xochipilli, or "Lord Flower Prince," were especially called upon during a celebration called Xochilhuitl ("feast of flowers"), dedicated to the royal artisans. There are also iconographic and ritual connections between the two goddesses and the ominous Cihuateteo, who were believed to be the spirits of those who had died in childbirth. The Cihuateteo were therefore invoked as patrons of midwives, diviners, and sorcerers in rituals over which Xochiquetzal and Chalchiutlique presided.