Finally, my last batch of pictures taken at the British Museum on the 31st August 2015. These do not only follow some of these themes I have previously captured in the other images, but you may notice they insist on a topic I have been quite fond of as of late: the pre-Columbian cultures. As we know so little about them, what a better way that enlightenment through the few pieces of material culture that they left behind? Therefore, here you have my last update regarding these images.
Pre-Columbian artefacts
“Stone sculpture of female deities”, Huaxtec, AD 900-1450.
(the rest of the Huaxtec female deities, AD 900-1450).
Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, Aztec basalt sculpture c. 1300 AD.
Maya lintel 16, c. 755-770 AD – Depicting the ruler Bird Jaguar.
Maya lintel 15 c.770 AD. From the Yaxchilan Structure 24, depicting the Bird Jaguar King.
Maya lintel 24 c.725. From Yaxchilan Structure 23 – Depicting Lord Shield Jaguar and his principal wife Lady Xoc, in what has been understood as a bloodletting ritual.
Maya lintel 25 c.725. From Yaxchilan Structure 23. Blood offering ritual and the manifestation of Yat Balam, founder of the Yaxchilan dynasty.
“turquoise mosaic mask”, Mixtec-Aztec, AD 1400-1521.
“turquoise mosaic mask”, Mixtec-Aztec, AD 1400-1521.
Turquoise mosaic representing a double-headed serpent produced by the Mixtec-Aztec culture 1400-1521. These pieces have been understood as potential remains of lapidary art.
Ceremonial shield, Mixtec-Aztec AD 1400-1525.
“Turquoise mask of Tezcatlipoca”. Mixtec-Aztec AD 1400-1521. Tezcatlipoca was one of the four most powerful gods in the Aztec pantheon.
“Cast of Stela H” from the Great Plaza of Copan, Honduras, AD 400-800. The cast was made in the 19th Century by Lorenzo Giuntini.
Cast from the Temple of the Cross at Palenque (Mexico). Made in the 19th Century by Lorenzo Giuntini.
…And I thought it would be fitting closing this update with a Northern American totem…
Totem in red cedar from British Columbia, 19th Century. Collected by Edmund Verney.
