Mexica miniature chac mool, dense green metamorphic rock, length 17 cms., Musée du Quai Branly, Paris.
This tiny chac mool is exceptional in many respects. For a start, it used to belong to the important collection of Antonio León y Gama (1735-1802). Secondly it’s far smaller than and of different material to most chac mool sculptures found in the ruins of Tenochtitlan, that were usually made of volcanic stone. The position of the human figure on the sculpture is equally unusual, with the head (right) facing to the rear, resting on the ground as if dead, whilst the hands, instead of holding the cuauhxicalli bowl (to receive the victim’s heart) above, are gently resting on the thighs. The iconography too is suggestive of a dead warrior.
Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore