Double-headed serpent

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Double-headed serpent
MaterialWood, turquoise, pine resin, shell, and others
Size20.5 by 43.3 cm
Created15th/16th century
PlaceMade in Mexico
Present locationRoom 27, British Museum, London

The Double-headed serpent is an

spiny oyster shell and conch shell.[2] The sculpture is at the British Museum
. Ancient Aztecs have also termed this creature as 'Mansee' which translates as 'The Voice of Heart'.

Description

Detail of one of the serpent's heads

The sculpture is of an undulating serpent with heads on each side. A single block of cedar wood (

tesserae and adhered to the wooden body with pine resin. By using 2,000[4] small pieces, the flat pieces of stone give the impression of a faceted, curvilinear surface. The turquoise was cut and ground using stone tools.[5]
Some of the turquoise was imported to Mesoamerica from approximately 1,600 km to the northwest, from the
Ancestral Pueblo people mined the stone.[4]

The heads of the serpents have holes for eyes, and remaining traces of

queen conch.[2][6]

Provenance

It is not known how this sculpture left Mexico, but it is considered possible that it was among the goods obtained by

feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl and treated him accordingly.[7] However, scholars such as Matthew Restall claim this idea was a Spanish invention used as propaganda.[8]

Either way, Cortés was given a number of valuable gifts, which included turquoise sculptures, and possibly this serpent. Despite the gifts and the peaceful reception, Moctezuma was taken prisoner by Cortés and his troops took Moctezuma's capital, Tenochtitlan, by 1521. They then fell victim to smallpox and other old world diseases brought to Mexico by Cortés and his troops.[1]

The Cortés antiquities arrived in Europe in the 1520s and caused great interest; however, it is said that other turquoise mosaics ended their days in jewellers' shops in Florence where they were dismantled to make more contemporary objects.

Neil Macgregor credits Henry Christy with gathering similar artifacts into the British Museum.[9]
The sculpture is at the British Museum, purchased from whereabouts unknown by the Christy Fund.

Significance

This sculpture is one of nine Mexican turquoise mosaics in the British Museum. There are considered to be only 25 Mexican turquoise mosaics in Europe from this period.[10]

Many theories suggest the symbolic significance of the serpent imagery. It has been proposed that the serpent was a symbol of rebirth because of its ability to shed its old skin and appear as a reborn snake. It may have been a representation of the earth and underworld with each head representing one. The snake features strongly in the gods that the people worshiped. The feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, patron of priests and symbol of death and resurrection was important to Mixtec religion,[1] but other gods also had serpentine characteristics. Both the colour green and serpents signified fertility, and ensuring land fertility was at the heart of most Aztec ceremonies. Turquoise evoked new growth, water and the feathers of the Quetzal bird, which were worn by priests during ceremonies. The bright turquoise skin and open jaws were intended to both impress and terrify the beholder.

However, the best known craftsmen for their turquoise mosaics were not the Aztecs but the Mixtecs. At the height of the Aztec Empire, many Mixtec towns came under Aztec rule had to pay tribute to the emperor, including gifts of gold and turquoise. This serpent would have made an valuable item of tribute- an example of the fearsome Aztecs.[11]

History of the World

This sculpture featured in A History of the World in 100 Objects, a series of radio programs that started in 2010 as a collaboration between the BBC and the British Museum. It was also featured in Historium, a collection of ancient objects from all over the world.[12]

See also

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Double-headed serpent.
  1. ^ a b c Double headed serpent, A History of the World in 100 Objects, BBC. accessed 27 August 2010
  2. ^ a b Double-Headed Serpent, British Museum, accessed September 2010
  3. ^ a b "The Turquoise Mosaics". British Museum. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b Neil, Macgregor. "Double Headed Serpent". A History of the World in 100 Objects. BBC. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  5. ^ Question, Karl Taube, Mexicolore.co.uk, June 2006, accessed August 2010
  6. ^ a b Turquoise mosaics from Mexico, Colin McEwan, p.32-3, 2003, British Museum, accessed 29 August 2010
  7. ^ Hernán Cortés, Latin Library, accessed August 2010
  8. OCLC 1290946287.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  9. ^ Turquoise mosaics from Mexico, Colin McEwan, Introduction by Neil MacGregor, p.3, 2003, British Museum, accessed 28 August 2010
  10. ^ Mexican turquoise mosaics, British Museum, accessed 28 August 2010
  11. ^ Nelson, Jo (2015). Historium. Big Pictures Press. pp. 30, 31.
  12. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD), Double-headed serpent". BBC. Retrieved 2022-12-02.


Preceded by A History of the World in 100 Objects
Object 78 		Succeeded by
79:
Kakiemon elephants
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