Mirror with Jaguar or Coyote Mosaic

Creator Name

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, Mexico;
Teotihuacan

Cultural Context

--

Date

500–600 CE

About the work

Art Institute of Chicago Object Description

For over 2,000 years, polished stone mirrors were an important component of Mesoamerican attire, ritual, and symbolic imagery. This mirror is made of a single sheet of polished pyrite stone and includes a jade jaguar mosaic at its center. Mirrors often functioned as emblems of rank and office and were typically worn at the small of the back. The depiction of such mirrors in ancient murals, as worn by warriors, priests, and state officials, attests to their importance in the spectacular art of ritual performance in Teotihuacan.

Work details

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Title

Mirror with Jaguar or Coyote Mosaic

Creator

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, Mexico;
Teotihuacan

Worktype

Religious/Ritual Object; accessories (object genre); ritual objects; art of the americas

Cultural Context

--

Material

Iron pyrite, jade, shell, magnatite or ilmenite, and spondylus shell; pyrite; mineral; inorganic material; jade; metamorphic rock; rock

Dimensions

Diam.: 19.1 cm (7 1/2 in.)

Technique

mosaic; inlay (process)

Language

--

Date

500–600 CE

Provenance

S. DeWitt Clough and Ada Turnbull Hertle endowments

Style Period

teotihuacán; mesoamerican; Pre-Columbian; americas; Arts of the Americas

Rights

Curationist Logo
Public Domain
Public Domain

Inscription

--

Location

Mexico

Subjects

feline; mirror; mosaic

Topic

--

All Works in Curationist’s archives can be reproduced and used freely. How to attribute this Work:

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, Mexico, Mirror with Jaguar or Coyote Mosaic, 500–600 CE, Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

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