Miniature model temple

Miniature model temple, ceramic, height 18.2 cms., Mexica (Aztec), Postclassic, Collection Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam.

Temple models were produced in series with the help of moulds. They convey the symbolic meaning of the pyramids as centres of society in general, as places of worship of the gods, or sometimes of an ancestor, and as burial places. Pyramids symbolised holy mountains, while temples (teocalli, ‘House of the God’) symbolised the dark grottos which served as gateways permitting entry into supernatural worlds and through which the ancestors entered the earth... The models may have been used for private purposes.

From Aztecs, eds. Doris Kurella, Martin Berger and Inés de Castro, with INAH, Mexico - catalogue for the exhibition Azteken, Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Hirmer Publishers, Germany, 2019, p. 299.

Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.