IMPORTANT "XIPE TOTEC MASK" Culture Veracruz,... - Lot 52 - Giquello

Lot 52
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Estimation :
8000 - 10000 EUR
IMPORTANT "XIPE TOTEC MASK" Culture Veracruz,... - Lot 52 - Giquello
IMPORTANT "XIPE TOTEC MASK" Culture Veracruz, Gulf Coast, Classical Mexico, 450-650 A.D. Orange beige ceramic with lumpy surface H. 18 cm - W. 18 cm Veracruz Xipe Totec mask, beigeware ceramic, Mexico H . 7 1/8 in - W. 7 1/8 in Provenance: Private American Collection Acquired by the present owner in 1990 Galerie Merrin, New York Publication: Kerr, Justin, A Pre-Columbian Portfolio: An Archive of Photographs, mayavase.com, n°3784 added on 29/09/2003 "The ancient Mexicans celebrated many feasts during their 18 months of 20 days each; the most impressive took place during the second twenty, it was called Tlacaxipehualiztli and meant the flaying of men in honor of Xipe. The feast consisted in sacrificing the young warriors captured in battle that had been specially reserved for this celebration. The end of the festival was the most impressive because the prisoner warrior was sacrificed by extracting the heart and the corpse was carefully flayed. A mask was made with the skin of the face and a bloody costume with the skin of the victim corresponding to the part that goes from the legs to the neck; these remains were used as clothing to identify oneself with the divinity. According to the chronicles, the priests of Xipe or the common people who promised the gods to carry them wore these trophies." Felipe Solís Olguín
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