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Online ExhibitionsSorcerers of the Fifth Heaven
A large Postclassic Nahua ceramic effigy censer preserved in the Princeton University Art Museum is an extraordinary representation of abstract human form, and because it was produced just prior to European incursion, the ritual purposes for which it was intended became the subject of intense scrutiny by Franciscan and Dominican friars. Remarkably, many of these practices continue to the present day, despite concerted efforts to eradicate them over the last five centuries, first by fervent evangelization and later by national health and education programs. These circumstances present an unparalleled study opportunity with respect to the interpretation of the function of the censer and by extension comparable forms of ancient Mexican art.
Form and Style Pre-Columbian art is renowned for its pervasive use of terra-cotta as a medium and many outstanding pieces can be seen at the Princeton University Art Museum. Production of the effigy censer was inspired by a reverent appreciation for what clay itself offered the artist as a product of nature. Kinship with the simple vessel is revealed in the body, which was built up meticulously from coils. Working this way, the artist carefully planned for the natural weight and sag of the wet clay in conceiving such a massive human image while simultaneously considering the mechanics of a chimney to send the gift of perfumed smoke to the spirit forces he intended to propitiate. No less significant a contribution, however, was the endowment of the effigy with a mirthful quality, a three-dimensional interpretation of the Nahua-Mixteca style exemplified in surviving Pre-Columbian codices. The bodily proportions were exaggerated by modeling an overly large head with a broad triangular face pressed from a mold, contrasted by the diminutive tube-like appendages rolled from slabs. The ears are composed of simple rectangular panels pierced by cylindrical ornaments. Contrasting with the playful form is the sense of a profound ritual act captured by the depiction of blood-shot eyes fixed in a trance-like stare, a representation of the effects of hallucinogenic intoxication.
The Effigy Measuring sixty-four centimeters in height, the effigy censer represents a seated deity possessing an enlarged head, expressive face, and bottle-shaped body to which tubular appendages representing arms and legs were attached. Although much of the surface has been badly eroded because it was either buried in the ground or concealed in a cave for over four centuries before its discovery, enough of the fresco survives to determine that it represented a potent spirit force known as a Maquiltonal, a name meaning "Five Soul" in the Nahuatl language of Central and Southern Mexico.
The effigy censer was probably considered by its creators to have been endowed with a life force. The mouth, nostrils, ears, and heart were perforated to allow breath-like scrolls of smoke from the burning incense to be emitted from the body cavity. Many indigenous peoples of North America also believe that clay is a living spirit, an extension of the earth on which they depend for sustenance.
The Face Comes to Life Conclusions drawn from fieldwork in the Valley of Oaxaca... allowed artists to construct a facsimile of the head of the Princeton effigy censer in ceramic, treat it with the proper plaster foundation, and reconstruct the original painting, clearly revealing the salient iconographic details, particularly the diagnostic white hand across the mouth.
The body was painted black; indicative of a special ointment that Nahua priests rubbed into their skin. The neck was painted red, possibly suggesting a necklace of spondylous shell to which four alternating blue and white disks were attached. The wrists were ornamented with bracelets possibly colored blue to suggest turquoise mosaic. Both the bracelets and the necklace were finished with small golden bells emphasized in low relief. Facial paint features a band of yellow across the eyes and a white hand over the mouth. The thumb of the hand extends over the right cheek while the fingers, each tipped by a blue nail, extend around the left hand side of the jaw almost to the ear ornament. Fanged jaguar teeth protruding from the corners of the mouth are an allusion to the Maquiltonal's principal nahual or spirit companion, a kind of animal alter ego.
Tehuacan Valley Archaeologists have determined that the effigy censer probably came from the Tehuacan Valley located in southern Mexico. Many fragments of these objects have been found there in and around the ruins of ancient palaces. During the Postclassic period between 900 and 1521 C.E., the Eastern Nahuas controlled much of what is today the state of Puebla. Although they were divided into numerous small city-states, the Eastern Nahua maintained unity through their allegiance to a great pilgrimage shrine dedicated to their patron god, Quetzalcoatl or "Plumed Serpent", at the city of Cholula. The Spaniards described Cholula as the "Mecca" of New Spain, while the adjacent Tehuacan Valley to the south funneled gold, turquoise, cacao (chocolate), cotton, and the precious feathers of rare tropical birds among other goods from southern Mexico and Central America to make Cholula's merchants among the richest men in the western hemisphere. Eventually the Eastern Nahuas intermarried with the Mixtecs and Zapotecs of Oaxaca and together their confederacies dominated much of highland Mexico before the rise of their principal rivals the Aztecs of the Basin of Mexico.
Form and Style Pre-Columbian art is renowned for its pervasive use of terra-cotta as a medium and many outstanding pieces can be seen at the Princeton University Art Museum. Production of the effigy censer was inspired by a reverent appreciation for what clay itself offered the artist as a product of nature. Kinship with the simple vessel is revealed in the body, which was built up meticulously from coils. Working this way, the artist carefully planned for the natural weight and sag of the wet clay in conceiving such a massive human image while simultaneously considering the mechanics of a chimney to send the gift of perfumed smoke to the spirit forces he intended to propitiate. No less significant a contribution, however, was the endowment of the effigy with a mirthful quality, a three-dimensional interpretation of the Nahua-Mixteca style exemplified in surviving Pre-Columbian codices. The bodily proportions were exaggerated by modeling an overly large head with a broad triangular face pressed from a mold, contrasted by the diminutive tube-like appendages rolled from slabs. The ears are composed of simple rectangular panels pierced by cylindrical ornaments. Contrasting with the playful form is the sense of a profound ritual act captured by the depiction of blood-shot eyes fixed in a trance-like stare, a representation of the effects of hallucinogenic intoxication.
The Effigy Measuring sixty-four centimeters in height, the effigy censer represents a seated deity possessing an enlarged head, expressive face, and bottle-shaped body to which tubular appendages representing arms and legs were attached. Although much of the surface has been badly eroded because it was either buried in the ground or concealed in a cave for over four centuries before its discovery, enough of the fresco survives to determine that it represented a potent spirit force known as a Maquiltonal, a name meaning "Five Soul" in the Nahuatl language of Central and Southern Mexico.
The effigy censer was probably considered by its creators to have been endowed with a life force. The mouth, nostrils, ears, and heart were perforated to allow breath-like scrolls of smoke from the burning incense to be emitted from the body cavity. Many indigenous peoples of North America also believe that clay is a living spirit, an extension of the earth on which they depend for sustenance.
The Face Comes to Life Conclusions drawn from fieldwork in the Valley of Oaxaca... allowed artists to construct a facsimile of the head of the Princeton effigy censer in ceramic, treat it with the proper plaster foundation, and reconstruct the original painting, clearly revealing the salient iconographic details, particularly the diagnostic white hand across the mouth.
The body was painted black; indicative of a special ointment that Nahua priests rubbed into their skin. The neck was painted red, possibly suggesting a necklace of spondylous shell to which four alternating blue and white disks were attached. The wrists were ornamented with bracelets possibly colored blue to suggest turquoise mosaic. Both the bracelets and the necklace were finished with small golden bells emphasized in low relief. Facial paint features a band of yellow across the eyes and a white hand over the mouth. The thumb of the hand extends over the right cheek while the fingers, each tipped by a blue nail, extend around the left hand side of the jaw almost to the ear ornament. Fanged jaguar teeth protruding from the corners of the mouth are an allusion to the Maquiltonal's principal nahual or spirit companion, a kind of animal alter ego.
Tehuacan Valley Archaeologists have determined that the effigy censer probably came from the Tehuacan Valley located in southern Mexico. Many fragments of these objects have been found there in and around the ruins of ancient palaces. During the Postclassic period between 900 and 1521 C.E., the Eastern Nahuas controlled much of what is today the state of Puebla. Although they were divided into numerous small city-states, the Eastern Nahua maintained unity through their allegiance to a great pilgrimage shrine dedicated to their patron god, Quetzalcoatl or "Plumed Serpent", at the city of Cholula. The Spaniards described Cholula as the "Mecca" of New Spain, while the adjacent Tehuacan Valley to the south funneled gold, turquoise, cacao (chocolate), cotton, and the precious feathers of rare tropical birds among other goods from southern Mexico and Central America to make Cholula's merchants among the richest men in the western hemisphere. Eventually the Eastern Nahuas intermarried with the Mixtecs and Zapotecs of Oaxaca and together their confederacies dominated much of highland Mexico before the rise of their principal rivals the Aztecs of the Basin of Mexico.
