Staghorn sceptre

Mexica sceptre, staghorn, 21cms high, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris.

This strange object, similar to one kept at the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, came to light in the 19th century in the ruins at Tlatelolco. The layout of the antlers identifies the figure as a white-tailed deer that roamed the barren plateaux of central Mexico.
Apparently a sceptre, the object sports a human hand with five long, bulbous fingers carved at one end, with the head of a deer appearing in between the index finger and thumb.
In mythology, the deer was a fiery, solar animal, often associated with droughts.

Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore