The last shield of the series (pl. XXIX) has a height of 14⅝ inches. It
comprises little more than a third of the original object, hence the
diameter must have been fully 15 inches or more. As in the others, we
find the encircling bands, but as no part of the center remains, we do
not know if it had a figure or was like the others of the series.
_Ear-plug_
With the deposit of masks and shields in the cave in the Mixteca,
now in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, was the
unique wooden object shown on pl. XXX. It is spool-shaped, the bottom
flat, the upper part concave and covered with a mosaic of dark-green
turquois, with a central disc of dark rose-colored shell. It is 1½
inch high, with a diameter of 1¾ inch at the upper and lower rims.
There is no doubt that this specimen was an ear-plug. The sides of the
spool show the small gouges of the cutting instrument with which it was
fashioned, and the entire surface not covered with mosaic was painted
rose-red.
_Animal Figures_
The specimen in the National Museum in Copenhagen, shown on pl. XXXI,
has been described in detail by Lehmann,[101] and our illustration is
taken from his photograph. It is considerably damaged, much of the
mosaic incrustation having disappeared. The materials are turquois,
malachite, shell, and mother-of-pearl. In its original state it was one
of the imposing pieces of this art. The upper projecting part rising
from the top of the head probably simulated a plumed head-dress. Its
extreme height is about 10½ inches, and the diameter only 3¾ inches.
On pl. XXXII are illustrated two animal heads. The first (_a_), a
jaguar head, in the Ethnographical Museum in Berlin, has been described
in detail by Lehmann in his paper published in the _Proceedings of
the Fifteenth Congress of Americanists_, held at Quebec in 1906. It
is 5¾ inches high, and the mosaic is composed of turquois, malachite,
and shell. The other specimen (_b_) is in the National Museum at
Copenhagen.[102] It seems to represent a serpent’s head with a human
face in the open jaws. The mosaic is turquois, malachite, and reddish
shell. It has an extreme length of 13½ inches and is 8¼ inches high.
Much of the incrustation has fallen off.
The animal head shown on pl. XXXIII, _a_, is in the Vienna Museum, and
has been illustrated by Heger in three views.[103] Our drawing is the
side-view, after Heger. This object is 4⅝ inches long from front to
back. Much of the mosaic has fallen away, and the pieces of jadeite,
obsidian, and shell are larger and the work is generally coarser than
in any of the other examples in Europe. Heger’s photographs depict a
leather thong issuing from a hole at the back of the head.
[Illustration: PL. XXXVI
DOUBLE-HEADED SERPENT OF WOOD WITH MOSAIC DECORATION
BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON]
[Illustration: PL. XXXVII
FIGURE OF WOOD WITH MOSAIC DECORATION, GOD XOLOTL
STATE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, VIENNA]
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