Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan, Mexico
Mirror with Jaguar or Coyote Mosaic
INV-1326
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan, Mexico500–600 CE
Mirror with Jaguar or Coyote Mosaic
Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, Mexico →teotihuacánmesoamericanPre-Columbianamericasaccessories (object genre)ritual objects
Date
500–600 CE
Medium
Iron pyrite, jade, shell, magnatite or ilmenite, and spondylus shell
Dimensions
Diam.: 19.1 cm (7 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
S. DeWitt Clough and Ada Turnbull Hertle endowments
For over 2,000 years, polished stone mirrors were an important component of Mesoamerican attire, ritual, and symbolic imagery. This mirror is made of a single sheet of polished pyrite stone and includes a jade jaguar mosaic at its center. Mirrors often functioned as emblems of rank and office and were typically worn at the small of the back. The depiction of such mirrors in ancient murals, as worn by warriors, priests, and state officials, attests to their importance in the spectacular art of ritual performance in Teotihuacan.
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