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Exceedingly Rare Aztec 15th/16th Century Temple Model w/ Pre-1970 Provenance

About the Item

An extremely rare Basalt model of one of the main temples in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, perhaps the Templo Mayor itself, The Great Temple. As a way of reinforcing the centralized power of the Aztec Empire and its Religious institutions, thousands of small clay models of the main temples in Tenochtitlan were mass produced in press molds and distributed throughout the Empire, where they were installed in household religious shrines. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a large collection of these small clay examples(The Bullowa Collection) The Met Catalog for their show "Design For Eternity: Architectural Models From The Ancient Americas(2015) displays a clay example which is very similar to the offered example (Pg. 51, fig 56)(See the last entry above in "Additional Images".) Next to it is a page from an Aztec Codex. The Met Writes: "The roofs or roof combs at the summit provide frames for relief designs that may offer additional clues to the function or association of the models. For example the rows of circles in relief on this clay model mimic, in a simplified form, the rows of skulls of sacrificial victims reproduced in the manuscript illustration of the Templo Mayor(Great Temple) of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan(Pg. 51, Fig. 57) The Offered example has these same rows of circles, and could also be a depiction of the Templo Mayor. The Met clay example is 4 7/8" and THE OFFERED STONE EXAMPLE IS MASSIVE IN COMPARISON AT 12" TALL! Large stone examples like this one were probably made for more important locations, like temples in the provinces. In any case, this example is exceedingly rare if not unique, as there are none in the Met Collection, there were none in this exhibition, and none have been found in searches of the Aztec Literature Bill of Sale - Original sale document from important early L.A. Collector/Dealer Milton Birnbaum, MD to famous L.A. Musician Murray Korda dated July 7, 1969 (Available upon request) Authentication: - Original paper by Hasso von Winning dated Oct 14, 1969(Available upon request) - Examination by Stoetzer Fine Art Services, Miami, Florida

Dimensions:

Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 6 in (15.24 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)

Style:

Pre-Columbian (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Stone,Carved

Place of Origin:

Mexico

Period:

15th Century and Earlier

Date of Manufacture:

15th/16th Century