Mixcoac

Described and illustrated in Duverger (2003: 130, 131) as a cylindrical basin installed by the Franciscan missionaries as font/stoup in their church at Mixcoac. Duverger (ibid.) describes it as an Aztec object ["pièce aztèque"], an example of the association made by the converted Mexicans between the pre-Hispanic quauhxicalli (the vessel in which the bloodied heart of the sacrificed victim was deposited] and the baptismal font [perhaps not too far-fetched a link, when we think back to the relationship between the font and the chalice -a Christian quauhxicalli at a stretch- in the Christian liturgy. The Mixcoac basin is plain on the inside but, like many baptismal bowls, has its outer sides ornamented; the upper rim-side has a braid-like band all around; below it the rest of the surface is covered in simbols separated by vertical motifs [NB: some of the symbols appear to be glyphs, but no information on them is available at this time]