Tepotzotlan No. 2 / Tepotzotlán

Results: 1 records

B01: representations - gods, demi-gods, heroes, etc. (native American religions) - Quetzalcoatl, Aztec god of the winds and sciences

Scene Description: the head carved off in the re-clying of this Mexica object into a font [cf. Font notes]

INFORMATION

FontID: 15950TEP
Museum and Inventory Number: Museo Nacional del Virreinato [antiguo excolegio jesuita e Iglesia de S. Francisco Javier]
Church/Chapel: Museo Nacional del Virreinato [antiguo excolegio jesuita e Iglesia de S. Francisco Javier]
Country Name: Mexico
Location: México
Directions to Site: Located 19 km N of Tlalnepantla, on the Mexico-Queretaro road, 45 km from Mexico city
Font Location in Church: [inside the museum]
Date: ca. 1521? [basin only]
Century and Period: 16th century[altered] [basin only] [composite font], Pre-Columbian / Mexica
Noted and illustrated in Moctezuma (2009): "Baptismal font fashioned from an inverted Mexica sculpture of Quetzalcoatl, modified in the early years of the colonial period" [ca. 1521]; the object had the head of the serpent originally, but it was chiselled off and a hole drilled through its centre to sevre as drain for the basin that was hollowed out of it. The object is now a round shallow basin with the outer sides decorated with carved feathers representing the plumed serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, volcanic stone
Font Shape: round
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Diameter (includes rim): 135 cm*
Basin Total Height: 35 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * [in Moctezuma (2009)]

REFERENCES

Moctezuma, Aztec ruler, London: The British Museum Press, 2009