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An Effigy of Tezcatlipoca from the Bilimek Collection in Vienna

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An Effigy of Tezcatlipoca from the Bilimek Collection in Vienna Ancient Mesoamerica, 31 (2020), 343–359 Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2020 doi:10.1017/S0956536119000324 AN EFFIGY OF TEZCATLIPOCA FROM THE BILIMEK COLLECTION IN VIENNA Jeremy D. Coltman ,a Guilhem Olivier,b and Gerard van Busselc aDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, 1334 Watkins Hall, Riverside, California 92521 bInstituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Circuito, Mario de La Cueva S/n, C.U., Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico c Weltmuseum Wien, Heldenplatz, 1010 Vienna, Austria Abstract Most representations of Tezcatlipoca, the supreme sorcerer of Late Postclassic central Mexico, come from the codices of the Mixteca- Puebla tradition. This important deity was also represented, however, in statues, wall paintings, bas-reliefs, as well as head-shaped ceramic pieces, the latter of which are little-known and poorly studied. In this study, we offer a detailed analysis of one of the best examples of Tezcatlipoca head-shaped ceramic pieces sheltered in the Bilimek Collection at the Weltmuseum in Vienna. We compare the Tezcatlipoca effigy head of Vienna with similar pieces from the Colección Fundación Televisa in Mexico City, the Museo Regional de Cholula, and the Museo del Valle de Tehuacán, all representations being fine examples of the Eastern Nahua artistic tradition. The similarity between the iconography on the Tezcatlipoca pedestal in Vienna and the murals of Ocotelulco and Tizatlan, Tlaxcala, are particularly striking, sharing representations of skulls, hands, and a motif we have identified as a mirror. We also analyze in detail the links between the iconography of Tezcatlipoca with that of the Macuiltonaleque. Finally, we propose the possibility of a ritual use of these ceramic vessels, associated with the ingestion of pulque in the framework of a Tezcatlipoca drinking cult. INTRODUCTION god (Olivier 2008:85–92). In murals, bas-relief sculpture, and codices, he is seldom depicted without his primary diagnostic attribute, a There has been a great deal of recent research in Aztec studies con- smoking mirror that often appears in place of his foot or as an element cerning Tezcatlipoca (Baquedano 2015; Olivier 2008). This ambiva- attached to his head (Figure 1; Olivier 2008:231–268). The name lent deity was the archsorcerer, the master of destiny, but also the Tezcatlipoca is generally translated as “Smoking Mirror,” with tutelary god of kings of Late Postclassic central Mexico. Described “Shining” or “Brilliant Mirror” being other possibilities (Olivier 2008: by Nicholson (1971:412) as an “omnipotent, omnipresent, omni- 14–15; Zantwijk 1985:315, n7, 1994:44). The Franciscan historian scient deity,” he is the embodiment of chaos and matter, associated Fray Juan de Torquemada (1944:vol. 2, p. 38) accords with the latter with darkness and sorcery under the name of Yohualli Ehecatl, translation, when he calls the god “Espejo resplandeciente,” referring “Night Wind.” One of his avatars, Tepeyollotl, “Heart of the to him as second to none of the gods in his Monarquia indiana (1615). Mountain,” expresses his animal alter ego, the jaguar, and his associ- In the most comprehensive study to date of Tezcatlipoca, Olivier ation with the underworld and fertility (Olivier 2008:92–107). In the (2008:63–64) mentions several ceramic representations of this deity same way, Tezcatlipoca is associated with the moon as indicated by that fall into an Eastern Nahua subset of the Mixteca-Puebla artistic his calendrical names, 1 Death (Ce Miquiztli) and 2 Reed (Ome style. Another such representation (Figures 2a–2d)isfromthe Acatl). Other names such as Telpochtli, “Young,” make a link to war- Bilimek Collection in the Weltmuseum Wien (formerly Museum für riors and with the schools for youth (telpochcalli). As Necoc Yaotl Völkerkunde/Museum of Ethnology, Vienna; Catalog No. 6.106). (“Enemy of the Two Sides”), this capricious god stirred up discord This discussion will focus on this example and relate it to several among men and provoked conflicts on earth (Olivier 2008:25–32). other ceramic representations of this deity in the Colección Fundación The relationship to both warriors and divination explains the close Televisa in Mexico City, the Museo Regional de Cholula, and the ties to power. The Mexica king identified with a representative of Museo del Valle de Tehuacán (Figures 3a–3c). It will be shown that Tezcatlipoca who was sacrificed during the veintena of Toxcatl. this effigy head belongs to an Eastern Nahua artistic style that is best Also, after his enthronement, the new king invoked the benevolence exemplified in Catalina Polychrome from Cholula as well as the of Tezcatlipoca, who, by the gifts of his divinatory mirror and his flute painted benches from the sites of Tizatlan and Ocotelulco in Tlaxcala. (a myth attributed the origin of music to Tezcatlipoca), would guide These vessels became ritually active when they contained beverages the king’s future acts and speak through him (Olivier 2002). and invoked the supreme deity of Late Postclassic central Mexico. The most ancient representations of Tezcatlipoca date from the tenth to eleventh centuries a.d. in Tula (Hidalgo), Ixtapantongo (Estado de México), and Chichen Itza (Yucatán); in all cases, he appears as a war FATHER DOMINIK BILIMEK Before its acquisition by the museum, the ceramic effigy in Vienna E-mail correspondence to: [email protected] was in the possession of Father Dominik Bilimek (1813–1884), a 343 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Athens, on 06 Oct 2021 at 20:46:51, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536119000324 344 Coltman, Olivier, and van Bussel Figure 1. Tezcatlipoca, from the Codex Borgia (Anders et al. 1993:17). Cistercian friar from Austria. Bilimek was born on February 23, collection was stored in private households and at the castle of 1813 in Nový Jicˇín (Neutitschein) in Moravia, in the present-day Chapultepec before being shipped to Europe in July 1867. Upon Czech Republic, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. his return to Vienna in September 1867, Bilimek was received by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria (1832–1867) invited Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, brother of Maximilian, to Bilimek to Mexico, after the Archduke himself had accepted the inform him about the last days of the Mexican Empire (Neue imperial crown of the Second Mexican Empire (1864–1867). Freie Presse, September 22, 1867). Bilimek received a confirmation Bilimek’s knowledge of the natural sciences and his experience in of his appointment in Miramar by December 30, 1867. In 1878, collecting convinced the Emperor to appoint him curator of Dominik Bilimek parted with the majority of his collections. The botany and entomology at the newly established Mexican natural history specimens were mainly distributed to collections in National Museum on January 15, 1865, an engagement officially Vienna, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and to a newly created confirmed on May 1, 1866 (Neue Freie Presse, January 26, 1865). museum in his hometown, which also received an ethnographic col- Despite the Mexican Civil War preventing extensive travel in the lection from Mexico. The archaeological objects were transferred to interior of the country, Bilimek nevertheless was able to assemble the Imperial and Royal Court Museum of Natural History in Vienna, large collections, occasionally being accompanied by the Emperor on where they were allocated to the Anthropological-Ethnographical his explorations. Apart from his zoological and botanical acquisitions, Department, the predecessor institution to the present Bilimek acquired over 900 archaeological and ethnographical speci- Weltmuseum Wien. Supplementary Bilimek artifacts were acquired mens. He carefully recorded the locations where he found the natural by the same museum in 1882. Ever since then, Bilimek’s collection specimens. Regarding the archaeological objects, Bilimek states he constitutes one of the core Mexican collections of this institution himself found a few in a cave near Orizaba and at Chapultepec. The (Heger 1908:18–19; van Bussel 2001:306, 309). In return, vast majority of the archaeological artifacts, including the effigy, Bilimek received an annuity of 600 Austrian guilders. At the have no provenance. In a letter, Bilimek mentions that these latter time, the value of the collection was registered as 6,250 guilders. objects had been assembled over a period of 40 years (Bilimek 1878; Upon his death in August 1884, Bilimek had been paid 4,050 guil- Riedl-Dorn 2001:331). This implies that most of the archaeological arti- ders, making a total of approximately €45,000 as the actual price of facts were obtained from one or more private collectors. acquisition. On August 4, 1884, Dominik Bilimek passed away and Following the end of Maximillan’s Mexican experiment and the two days later was laid to rest at the cemetery of the Heiligenkreuz closing of the National Museum in Mexico City, Bilimek’s (Holy Cross) Abbey, Lower Austria (Figure 4). Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Athens, on 06 Oct 2021 at 20:46:51, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536119000324 An Effigy of Tezcatlipoca from the Bilimek Collection in Vienna 345 Figure 2. The Tezcatlipoca ceramic effigy head from the Bilimek Collection in the Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna: (a) front, (b) right side, (c) left side, and (d) back of effigy. Photographs by Christian Mendez, ©KHM-Museumsverband Vienna. THE VIENNA EFFIGY of the back of both the head and pedestal. There are no ventholes The Vienna effigy has a height of 20.4 cm and a width of 19.4 cm. in the original ceramic. The present condition of the effigy, which The object was remodeled and repainted before entering the completely seals off the head, was not possible originally for, museum’s collection (Becker-Donner 1965:23, Plate VII; Feest and without ventholes, heated air could not escape during firing, Kann 1992:202; van Bussel 2010).
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