Producer unknown to us
Corn goddess
Americas, Mexico
Prior to 1889
Stone, hewed
Collector and acquisition context unknown to us
MAm 6053
Chicomecoatl was one of the Aztecs' goddesses of maize. Her name means ”seven serpents” in Nahuatl. As a young goddess of fertility, prosperity, and maize, she is responsible for young maize. The Mexica, who migrated to the Valley of Mexico around the year 1200 CE, decorated their home altars with maize plants and brought their seeds to the temple during the month of Huietozoztli (September). In addition to that, in honor of Chicomecoatl, a young woman was sacrificed, beheaded, and her blood was poured over a statue of the goddess. By contrast, the goddess Ilamatecuhtli, depicted as an older noble woman, is associated, for example, with ripe corn.
The specific circumstances of the acquisition of these figures are not clear to this day.
Julia von Sigsfeld