Man carrying cacao pod Mexica, height 36 cms., Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.
Dressed in a loincloth and wearing a headdress, this volcanic stone figure depicts a man holding a larger-than-life cacao pod. Precious cacao beans, grown in the semi-tropical lowlands of SE Mexico, were a luxury item that took on the status of currency for the Mexica. This figure may represent a member of the high-status merchant class, in a simple display of a good that exemplifies so clearly his economic power in Aztec (Mexica) society.
Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore