Helmet

The helmet or head-piece on pl. IV is in the British Museum, and was first described and illustrated in colors in 1895 by Sir Charles Hercules Read. From his study we take the following notes:[88] The helmet is hollowed out inside to fit the head and is painted green; the exterior is carved with two projections, perhaps intended to represent the upper mandibles of eagles. The space between the inner upper part of the two beaks and the two outer faces of the beaks bears traces of red paint. With this exception, the outer surface has been covered with a mosaic of turquois, malachite, pearl shell, and pink shell, inlaid or incrusted on a bed of dark-brown gum. A great number of the pieces of mosaic have fallen out. It contains, fashioned in dark-green malachite pieces, two involved animal figures, which Read conjectures are rattlesnakes with crested heads. Judging from the plate accompanying Read’s study (no measurements are given), the specimen has an extreme height of 7½ inches and a diameter of 7¼ inches. The illustration which we reproduce, as well as of the other specimens in London, we owe to the kindness of T. A. Joyce, Esq., of the British Museum.

Masks

The mask on pl. V is in the British Museum, and is one of the best preserved specimens of mosaic-work from Mexico. It is of cedar, the outer surface being covered with a mosaic of minute pieces of turquois, of a brilliant color beneath the eyes and on the forehead, while on the other parts the color is a poor grayish-green. The face is studded with irregularly shaped cabochon turquoises. The eyes, nostrils, and mouth are all pierced; the first are filled with oval pieces of pearl shell, each with a circular hole for the pupil. The gum surrounding the shell and keeping it in position is gilded. In the half-open mouth is a row of seven teeth of white shell set in the upper jaw. On each temple is set a pierced square of pearl shell. The inside of the mask is painted red. Its height is 6½ inches, the width 6 inches.

PL. XXII

BACK OF SHIELD SHOWN ON PLATE I

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION, NEW YORK

On pl. VI is shown another mosaic mask in the British Museum. We follow Read’s description. It is of cedar, and the lower left-hand part of the face is missing. Over the face are represented two entwined serpents curving around the eyes and mouth, and the rattle-tipped tails rest over the right and left of the forehead. The whole of the surface of the mask is covered with a mosaic of turquois, bright-blue and dull-green in color, arranged in such manner that the two snakes are distinct in color. The rattle of each snake upon the temples are modeled of the same gum as that in which the stones are embedded, and it seems possible that they were formerly gilded. The mouth of the mask is slightly open and contains teeth of white shell in the upper jaw. There is a slit over each eye and a hole in each temple. The inside of the mask is painted red. Height 6.9 inches, width 6.6 inches. Read believes that the heads of the two snakes were on the lower checks, which are incomplete. Maudslay identifies this mask with that described by Sahagun in the chapter which we have translated (see p. 14), relating to the objects pertaining to the god Quetzalcoatl which were presented by Montezuma to Cortés.[89] In this description only one serpent is mentioned, and Sahagun states that “the head with part of the body came over one eye so that it formed an eyebrow, and the tail with a part of the body went over the other eye to form the other eyebrow.” In the plate the two rattles are clearly seen, and Holmes has published a diagrammatic drawing differentiating the bodies of the serpents. If Sahagun’s description is accurate, this specimen cannot be the one mentioned by him. It is, however, one of the most interesting pieces of mosaic that has survived.