ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Codex Vaticanus B.—Sheet 19: In this place he is represented standing before a temple with a bundle of firewood and a rubber ball in his hand. The temple contains implements [[269]]of war. He is painted red, with the lower part of the face blackened by melted rubber and a black cross, the foot of which rests on a level with his eye. The fillet round his head is a strap set with jewelled disks. On the necklace is seen a blue bird (cotinga, or humming-bird). That part of his face which is not black, and which in the Codex Borgia is painted a red colour like the rest of the body, is on sheet 89 painted yellow, with slender thread-shaped longitudinal stripes of red. On sheet 57 he is seen as in the ninth day-count—red, and with red and black face-painting and flame-coloured hair, with the cotinga bird flying down on the frontal side of the fillet, and with arrow-shaft feathers in the crown. At the nape of the neck can be seen a short crest of red points enclosing three tufts of red feathers, which, perhaps, originate in the xiuhcoatl, or fire-snake worn in the Mexican MSS. proper by the Fire-god on his back as a disguise (cf. Codex Borbonicus). He has here the scorpion and atltlachinolli “spear-throwing and fire” sign, and is seated on a royal throne, with an abundance of food before him, which probably symbolizes wealth. He also wears a breast-ornament of blue turquoise mosaic with golden bells. He sometimes wears the priest’s tobacco-calabash as a sign of wealth or abundance.
Aubin-Goupil Tonalamatl.—Sheet 20: He holds the copal bag in one hand and in the other two agave-leaf spikes with flowers (blood) at the upper end. Before the face of the Fire-god we see a sea-snail’s shell, which is, perhaps, symbolic of fire shut up or enclosed in the house. Before him, too, is a vessel with offerings or sacrificial balls. Below is an agave spike with the flower-emblem of blood. Beside it are the symbol of midnight, the eye enveloped in darkness, and a tuft of quetzal-feathers—all symbolic of the midnight penance.
XIUHTECUTLI (right) and TLAUIZCALPANTECUTLI.
(From the Codex Borgia.)
Codex Borgia.—Sheet 14: In this codex the representation of the Fire-god is in many respects similar to that in Vaticanus B. The face and body-paint are red. The jewelled fillet is ornamented with the conventional representation of a cotinga bird in the attitude of flying down such as may be [[270]]observed in the figures allied with the Fire-god, and which is also seen in reliefs at Chichen-Itzà, Yucatan. In the fillet are placed two arrow-shafts, which represent the two wooden fire-disks—an ornament that is called “arrow-wig” or “spear-wig.” Above this is seen a tiara, which broadens as it rises upwards. Xiuhtecutli wears attached to a long pendant necklace a square plate of blue colour, made of turquoise mosaic. In some places he wields the “shooting implement,” the throwing-stick, or the blue throwing-stick, xiuhatlatl, fashioned in the form of a snake. The scorpion is frequently placed beside the god, symbolizing, perhaps, the stinging character of fire.
Codex Telleriano-Remensis.—He holds in one hand the xiuhatlatl, the throwing-stick painted blue, decked with turquoise mosaic and having a figure on the top, probably intended for a snake. In the other hand he has a staff, which at the upper crutch-like end shows an animal’s head, and the lower a snake’s tail-rattles.
Codex Magliabecchiano.—The Fire-god is here seen in a dancing or fighting attitude. The dragon-mask lies behind the neck, and he wears a yellow and red hat resembling an inverted cone, with a serpent motif in front. The face-paint is yellow for the upper part of the face, the mouth-region red and the lower posterior part black. His tunic is white, with a blue sash or centre-piece, and he wears the yellow breast-ornament. In one hand he carries the atlatl, or spear-thrower, and in the other a white, unpainted shield.
Sahagun MS.—Sahagun, describing Xiuhtecutli under his minor name of Ixcoçauhque (“The Yellow-faced”), says that he is painted red and black, and is smeared with indiarubber on lips and chin. He wears a headband set with precious stones and a paper crown with a plume of quetzal-feathers. He carries on his back his fire-snake dress and round his shoulders is slung a band of bark paper. On his feet he wears bells and shells. His shield is ornamented with precious stones, and in one hand he carries an instrument the use of which is apparently divinatory. [[271]]