The practice of seal production in Mesoamerica appears to have started in the Preclassic period and continued during the whole Pre-Hispanic period in various regions. Seals were used for diverse purposes, such as painting the body and face, as well as stamping designs on vessels, textiles or paper. The majority of the seals found to date are ceramic, although it is likely that wood or other perishable materials were also used. This seal is made from fired clay with a mold, but there were also modeled seals and those with sgraffito, and in general, the last type correspond to the earliest periods.
The motifs are varied and range from geometric to figurative, and from very simple to extremely complex and elaborate, ranging in size too. This seal represents a stylized figure of a monkey. It is also important to note that this animal is one of the most common designs on the seals in the Post-Classic period in the Central Highlands. The features of monkey representations on seals are: a strip of upright fur, round eye, disc-shaped earring, a long tail that has a spiral at the end, inflated belly and a posture with its two arms raised upward. These traits are also often seen in the images of monkeys in the pictograph codices.
The monkey or ozomatli in Nahuatl corresponds to the eleventh sign of the ritual calendar of 260 days, tonalpohualli. Its patron god is Xochipilli, lord of flowers, dance, games and love. The monkey is also associated with fertility and abundance; the inflated belly and posture could represent this relationship.
The practice of seal production in Mesoamerica appears to have started in the Preclassic period and continued during the whole Pre-Hispanic period in various regions. Seals were used for diverse purposes, such as painting the body and face, as well as stamping designs on vessels, textiles or paper. The majority of the seals found to date are ceramic, although it is likely that wood or other perishable materials were also used. This seal is made from fired clay with a mold, but there were also modeled seals and those with sgraffito, and in general, the last type correspond to the earliest periods.
