Head of unidentified goddess

Green stone head of unidentified goddess, Mexica (Aztec), 8 cms. high, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris.

To create this pendant the artist has used one half of a globular shaped pearl stone. Both sides of the hairstyle have been worked equally until they are perfectly level and finely polished. The convex face has been sculpted to present the realistic and expressive image of an unidentified goddess, with elliptical eyes, plump cheeks, broad nose and thick lips. The head is decorated with three rosettes, shaped like folded paper stars. This type of rosette is found in the elaborate hairdos of goddesses such as Ayopechtli, Chicomecoatl and Xilonen.

Adapted from Azteques by Leonardo López Luján and Marie-France Fauvet-Berthelot, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2005, p. 71.

Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.