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Manufacturing techniques
Without doubt, the figures of Mictlantecuhtli, as well as the other four sculptures that embellished the entrances to the House of the Eagles, are the work of true experts in clay working. Also, it is not ridiculous to assume that the six sculptures discovered up to the present time in this building come from the same workshop and are the work of the same artist. The skill with which they were made is evident in the technical solutions the works of this magnitude exhibit. The fact that the author did not place too much interest in the perfection of the small details does not diminish the outstanding quality of the images.
Because of their great size, the sculptures had to be made in four large parts, which were fited together by a system of mortise-and-tenon: a) the head and the neck; b) the torso, hips and arms; c) the right leg and d) the left leg. A fifth piece, which represents the liver and the gallbladder, was hung behind the thoracic cavity, perhaps with the help of a string of strong fiber.(figure 15).
So that the sculptures could support the structural tensions generated by a weight greater than 100 kg., a special paste was prepared using clay of medium texture and abundant rough sand as a tempering material. The artist combined several techniques to shape the clay. He shaped the head, the torso, the legs and the gallbladder with the help of molds. He added to these hollow pieces solid items that he shaped with his own hands: the cylinder of the neck, the arms, the two lobes of the liver and the feet. Following this same technique the artist made and used cylindrical tenons 12 cm in diameter by 9 cm in length which he added to the legs, and others that were 22 cm in diameter by 22 cm long for the neck. Lastly he shaped the ears, the ribs, and the sandal straps. The artist left his fingerprints on the internal surfaces of the scupltures and on the tenons, parts that were hidden and therefore did not require a great deal of attention as to finish. Because the piece would be covered with stucco and painted, the external surfaces were smoothed without much care using a hard instrument which left marks running in various directions.
The five pieces were then fired at medium temperature. The thinner wallsÑabout 1 cm in thicknessÑreached a very good level of firing and therefore a considerable hardness. Unfortunately this was not the case in the thicker walls which can be as much as 5.8 cm in thickness. Once the clay was fired, it was time to assemble the pieces on the benches in the House of the Eagles. In order to do so, wooden stakes were placed within each of the legs. Those stakes-- of which we found only a few chips--provided the structural support. The end of the stakes projected out through circular perforations found on the soles of the feet. The stakes were then inserted into two small cavities made specifically for this purpose on the upper surface of the benches. The process of assembly continued with the pieces of the arms, torso, hips and thighs. A sacrificial flint knife was then placed across the opening in the neck, one in the right leg of Element 4 and another one in the left leg of Element 5. Finally the heads were fitted in place.
When the sculptures were located in their final position, the artists proceeded to apply a fine layer of off-white stucco that covered the imperfections of the ceramic and, at the same time, hid the joint areas of the neck, legs and feet. With this same material the artist made the máxtlatl of the images. Finally the sculptures were decorated with blue, red, black, maroon and yellow pigments. The colors were applied uniformly over the stucco, with the exception of the face and some parts of the legs, where they were applied directly over the ceramic surfaces.
It is very interesting to note that Element 4 was restored at some time between its production and its final burial in the second half of the 15th century. Specifically, the left forearm was broken, perhaps accidentally, and restored by an individual of little skill. The area of the fracture was cut and filed diagonally at the level of the elbow. Afterward a new forearm was made, copying the original form, but without the details and the quality of the broken piece. For example, the walls of the attachment are much thinner; the claws are smaller and the five nails were represented with simple incisions on the clay. The new forearm was attached to the sculpture by means of a cord that was passed through a pair of perforations on each side of the joint (figure 16).
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Investigation | Bibliography | Documentation | Urban| TemporalLast Modified: 31 de Mayo, 2000
Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e História, México.
Seminario #8, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc, México, D.F. 06060
©Copyright 1997
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