In Mesoamerican art we very often find hollow figures representing humans, animals and objects with a mouth on the upper part as if they were recipients. It is difficult to determine if they ever contained anything such as water or another liquid, but it is also possible that, despite their shape, they were never filled. They are mostly ceremonial objects, generally to do with burials, as in the case of this piece, which must have come from a shaft tomb.
The richest tradition in ceramic burial figures is in the West of Mexico, which is only comparable to the tradition of the Zapotec effigy vessels. The tombs of the West were filled with ceramic figures, many of which seem to allude to people and everyday practices, and were probably related to the life of the deceased and their social environment. In them we see different physiognomies, costumes and actions.
This particular figure depicts a hunchback. The hunchback image is quite common in Mesoamerican art, and it has to do with the important role that such individuals played in Pre-Columbian society. Hunchbacks took part in certain rites and have a prominent place in courtesan communities. There are indications that all cultures in Mesoamerica conferred this particular site to hunchbacks and dwarves.
The colonial sources describing the customs of the last stage of indigenous history talk about the presence of these people in the palaces. In the case of the Mexica court, we know that there were many hunchbacks and dwarves and there was even a special room where they lived within the perimeter of the royal household. Thus, having a hunchback or dwarf child was not necessarily seen as a disgrace because they would be welcome in any palace and assigned tasks, such as a companion of the sovereign, which in some cases, they would have to entertain and amuse, much like the hunchbacked European court jesters.
A family could give away their hunchbacked child to the palace, and was perhaps sometimes forced to do so. However, it was also very common for dwarfs and hunchbacks to be sold on the market, as was also done with slaves. These kinds of people had such a high value in transactions that there were even poor people who intentionally deformed young children in order to be able to sell them and make a profit. By means of ropes and splints, they managed to alter the development of the spine and "manufactured" hunchbacked dwarves, as some sources describe.
There were certain magical rituals which required the intervention of dwarves and hunchbacks, who could also contribute to the divination of the occult. In general, the use of people with distinctive physical features, which could also include cleft lip or albinism, was a widespread practice in Mesoamerica, and linked to the idea that the "anomaly" or "deformity" were symptoms of special people, "touched" by the gods.'
In Mesoamerican art we very often find hollow figures representing humans, animals and objects with a mouth on the upper part as if they were recipients. It is difficult to determine if they ever contained anything such as water or another liquid, but it is also possible that, despite their shape, they were never filled. They are mostly ceremonial objects, generally to do with burials, as in the case of this piece, which must have come from a shaft tomb.
The richest tradition in ceramic burial figures is in the West of Mexico, which is only comparable to the tradition of the Zapotec effigy vessels. The tombs of the West were filled with ceramic figures, many of which seem to allude to people and everyday practices, and were probably related to the life of the deceased and their social environment. In them we see different physiognomies, costumes and actions.
This particular figure depicts a hunchback. The hunchback image is quite common in Mesoamerican art, and it has to do with the important role that such individuals played in Pre-Columbian society. Hunchbacks took part in certain rites and have a prominent place in courtesan communities. There are indications that all cultures in Mesoamerica conferred this particular site to hunchbacks and dwarves.
The colonial sources describing the customs of the last stage of indigenous history talk about the presence of these people in the palaces. In the case of the Mexica court, we know that there were many hunchbacks and dwarves and there was even a special room where they lived within the perimeter of the royal household. Thus, having a hunchback or dwarf child was not necessarily seen as a disgrace because they would be welcome in any palace and assigned tasks, such as a companion of the sovereign, which in some cases, they would have to entertain and amuse, much like the hunchbacked European court jesters.
A family could give away their hunchbacked child to the palace, and was perhaps sometimes forced to do so. However, it was also very common for dwarfs and hunchbacks to be sold on the market, as was also done with slaves. These kinds of people had such a high value in transactions that there were even poor people who intentionally deformed young children in order to be able to sell them and make a profit. By means of ropes and splints, they managed to alter the development of the spine and "manufactured" hunchbacked dwarves, as some sources describe.
There were certain magical rituals which required the intervention of dwarves and hunchbacks, who could also contribute to the divination of the occult. In general, the use of people with distinctive physical features, which could also include cleft lip or albinism, was a widespread practice in Mesoamerica, and linked to the idea that the "anomaly" or "deformity" were symptoms of special people, "touched" by the gods.'
