GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Mixtec artisans were famous for their extraordinarily refined miniature carvings made in a variety of materials, creating objects of virtually perfect design and workmanship. Although gold-working was common from an early time in far Central and South America, it was hardly used in Middle America until the Postclassic period. The Mixtecs were among the greatest metal workers in the Americas and particularly adept at cast gold work.
This cast gold pectoral ornament in the shape of a mask depicts a human face with large bulging eyes, an elaborate filigree headdress, ear ornaments, and a labret worn inserted into a hole in the lower lip. It would have originally been worn hanging over the chest. Smaller decorative ornaments were part of the larger elaborate costume accoutrements for nobility—often worn on the face, forehead, arms, legs, and chest—and thus projected both elite status and supernatural power. Objects such as these often accompanied the king and other nobility on the journey through death to the otherworld.
Adapted from
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 26.
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1968.20], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
- Kathy Windrow, DMA unpublished material, 1992.
- DMA unpublished material, 2009.
NOTES
- Mixtec, Late Postclassic period, 1350–1521, updated by KJones in TMS on 10/15/13, 06/19/14, and 04/11/16.
- Noted in TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Other (see remarks) -- Provenance Note: Collection of John Huston (noted by SEvans in TMS on 08/12/09).
- Fun Facts Sources: Collections Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File); Augustín de Vetancurt, Teatro mexicano (México, Impr. de I. Escalante y ca, 1870-71); Davíd Carrasco and Scott Sessions, Daily Life of the Aztecs (Greenwood Press, Connecticut, 1998); Esther Pasztory, Aztec Art (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1983).
- General Description drawn from: DMA unpublished material [TMS (1973.47; 1970.22.a-b; 1985.150; 1985.151; 1985.152), Notes/Curatorial Remarks, Kathy Windrow, September 1992; TMS (1985.150; 1985.151; 1985.152), Acquisition Justification, April 20, 2009].
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Mixtec: AAT: 300017180
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Oaxaca (state): TGN: 7005591
Process/materials
gold (metal): AAT: 300011021
casting (process): AAT: 300053104
annealing: AAT: 300053886
chasing (metalworking): AAT: 300054016
embossing (technique): AAT: 300053826
repoussé: AAT: 300054023
solder: AAT: 300010993
sheet metal: AAT: 300223016
metalwork: AAT: 300015336
hammering (metal finishing): AAT: 300054098
Historical periods
Postclassic (Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016987
Late Postclassic: AAT: 300134119
Individuals
Subject terms
worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pectorals (jewelry): AAT: 300211902
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
head: AAT: 300262520
faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798
face: DMA
human figures: AAT: 300404114
masks (costume): AAT: 300138758
ear ornaments: AAT: 300211279
earrings (jewelry): AAT: 300045998
filigree: AAT: 300220293
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
headbands (headgear): AAT: 300046115
labrets (jewelry): AAT: 300211525
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
power: AAT: 300374809
underworld (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300343823
social status: AAT: 300065206
nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942
shiny (shine): AAT: 300065244
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: John Huston [1]
Until 1976: Nora and John Wise, New York [1]
1976-1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, on long-term loan from the above [1], [2]
From 1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- In the Aztec language (Nahuatl), the word for gold is teocuitlatl, which translates to “excrement of the gods” (teotl (god) and cuitlatl (excrement)).
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1983.W.1
Category
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AND
General Description
Mixtec artisans were famous for their extraordinarily refined miniature carvings made in a variety of materials, creating objects of virtually perfect design and workmanship. Although gold-working was common from an early time in far Central and South America, it was hardly used in Middle America until the Postclassic period. The Mixtecs were among the greatest metal workers in the Americas and particularly adept at cast gold work.
This cast gold pectoral ornament in the shape of a mask depicts a human face with large bulging eyes, an elaborate filigree headdress, ear ornaments, and a labret worn inserted into a hole in the lower lip. It would have originally been worn hanging over the chest. Smaller decorative ornaments were part of the larger elaborate costume accoutrements for nobility—often worn on the face, forehead, arms, legs, and chest—and thus projected both elite status and supernatural power. Objects such as these often accompanied the king and other nobility on the journey through death to the otherworld.
Adapted from
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 26.
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1968.20], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
- Kathy Windrow, DMA unpublished material, 1992.
- DMA unpublished material, 2009.
Fun Facts
- In the Aztec language (Nahuatl), the word for gold is teocuitlatl, which translates to “excrement of the gods” (teotl (god) and cuitlatl (excrement)).
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- Mixtec, Late Postclassic period, 1350–1521, updated by KJones in TMS on 10/15/13, 06/19/14, and 04/11/16.
- Noted in TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Other (see remarks) -- Provenance Note: Collection of John Huston (noted by SEvans in TMS on 08/12/09).
- Fun Facts Sources: Collections Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File); Augustín de Vetancurt, Teatro mexicano (México, Impr. de I. Escalante y ca, 1870-71); Davíd Carrasco and Scott Sessions, Daily Life of the Aztecs (Greenwood Press, Connecticut, 1998); Esther Pasztory, Aztec Art (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1983).
- General Description drawn from: DMA unpublished material [TMS (1973.47; 1970.22.a-b; 1985.150; 1985.151; 1985.152), Notes/Curatorial Remarks, Kathy Windrow, September 1992; TMS (1985.150; 1985.151; 1985.152), Acquisition Justification, April 20, 2009].
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Mixtec: AAT: 300017180
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Oaxaca (state): TGN: 7005591
Process/materials
gold (metal): AAT: 300011021
casting (process): AAT: 300053104
annealing: AAT: 300053886
chasing (metalworking): AAT: 300054016
embossing (technique): AAT: 300053826
repoussé: AAT: 300054023
solder: AAT: 300010993
sheet metal: AAT: 300223016
metalwork: AAT: 300015336
hammering (metal finishing): AAT: 300054098
Historical periods
Postclassic (Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016987
Late Postclassic: AAT: 300134119
Individuals
Subject terms
worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pectorals (jewelry): AAT: 300211902
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
head: AAT: 300262520
faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798
face: DMA
human figures: AAT: 300404114
masks (costume): AAT: 300138758
ear ornaments: AAT: 300211279
earrings (jewelry): AAT: 300045998
filigree: AAT: 300220293
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
headbands (headgear): AAT: 300046115
labrets (jewelry): AAT: 300211525
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
power: AAT: 300374809
underworld (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300343823
social status: AAT: 300065206
nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942
shiny (shine): AAT: 300065244
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: John Huston [1]
Until 1976: Nora and John Wise, New York [1]
1976-1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, on long-term loan from the above [1], [2]
From 1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1983.W.1
source file
object_notes_3_a-0705.xml.nores