Aztec Deity Tlazolteotl, Handmade Clay Figure Of a Birthing Woman.
Aztec Deity Tlazolteotl, Handmade Clay Figure Of a Birthing Woman.
This Picture Of The Birthing Figure Is In The Robert Woods Bliss Collection Of Pre-Columbian Art.
This piece is a sculptural rendering of a birthing woman, often identified as the Aztec deity Tlazolteotl. Tlazolteotl is a gender-neutral name, meaning "filth deity", and thought to be the filth eater, the purifier, the confessor. Informants describe her as one who both gave and took away sin. They mentioned her overlapping identity with Ixcuina, a four-sister weaving goddess. As Tlazolteotl-Ixcuina she was "filth god-Lady Cotton" associated with spinning and weaving and fertility. Yet her role with regard to motherhood was as a fertility goddess at a grandiose scale, not as the patroness of childbirth.
This compelling small sculpture is one of the most famous pieces in the Bliss Collection. Its image has been featured in major exhibitions, graced book pages, and been reinterpreted in popular artistic media. It has been esteemed as an icon of fertility and even played a featured role in one of the most popular films of all time when it was the object of Indiana Jones's attention in the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
In spite of its charisma, some have questioned the piece's authenticity, and recent studies suggest it may be a nineteenth-century idealized conception of Aztec artistic expression. Despite the controversy, the piece has acquired a cultural identity transcending issues of validity. It has become an icon, a rare rendering of the power and pain of childbirth.
Item Code - CER3E5741HAE
Width: 5 1/4" Height: 8 3/8" Depth: 6 1/4" Weight: 1.094 kg
