Louise Termignon
Stock Inventory and Discovery Sale Coordinator
Lot 125W
STATUE AZTÈQUE DE CHALCHIUHTLICUE, DÉESSE DE LA FERTILITÉ, EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE
Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
12 December 2025, 11:00 CET
Paris, Avenue Hoche€8,000 - €10,000
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STATUE AZTÈQUE DE CHALCHIUHTLICUE, DÉESSE DE LA FERTILITÉ, EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE
Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
AZTEC VOLCANIC STONE STANDING FIGURE OF CHALCHIUHTLICUE, FERTILITY GODDESS
Mexico, Aztec (or Mexica) culture, Post-Classic Period, 1400 - 1520 A.D.
Gray volcanic stone with reddish-brown patina
(Missing at the hands and forearms. Broken and reattached: both feet, left leg and lower right part of the skirt, neck, and left headdress tassel. Reinforced with a metal rod)
61 cm (24 in.) high
Footnotes
She is dressed in a skirt and adorned with her attributes: a poncho with triangular panels that fall over her chest and back, and a headband headdress decorated with two large tassels framing her face. Medallions line the edge of the headdress at the forehead, evoking drops of water. An impressive multi-strand pearl necklace completes her adornment. A cavity at the solar plexus was originally intended to hold a stone of strong symbolic significance.
Chalchiuhtlicue means "Jade Skirt" in Nahuatl and refers to the color of water, a symbol of fertility and rebirth.
Exhibited
Art de Mésoamérique, Meso-Amerikaanse kunst, Société Générale de Banque, Brussels, 17 November 1976 - 8 January 1977, nb. 104, illustrated.
Provenance
Museum für Volkerkunde, Berlin. Formerly in the Seifaart Collection, bequeathed to the Berlin Museum in 1850. We enclose a digital copy of the certificate of authenticity delivered by the Museum für Volkerkunde, Berlin (dated 11 March 1972).
Galerie Deletaille, Brussels, 1972.
Private collection, Belgium, acquired at the above. The purchase recorded in a 20th March 1986 insurance document.