Brasero Chicomecóatl

Large format ceramic brazier with a molded representation of the goddess of corn named Chicomecóatl ("Seven Serpent"). It is painted in blue, red, white and black with a straight slip. It was found in an excavation in Tláhuac, a municipality located south of Mexico City, along with other four braziers of the same size with representations of the gods of water and vegetable fertility. Each hand holds a pair of colored corncobs; his face is painted with the decoration that identified women, which consisted of black vertical stripes painted on their cheeks. The predominant red attire and eye-catching headdress in the shape of a big paper box decorated with tassels identify this representation to Chicomecóatl, goddess of ripe corn, or to a priest wearing the attire to participate in a ceremony. The sides of the image has some scroll-shape elements and others that seem to be forked tongues, which represent, respectively, the smoke and fire, elements that evoke the function of such containers in ceremonial braziers. Arqlga. Bertina Olmedo Vera