Stone Figure in Animal Skin

Ben Heller, New York, acquired prior to 1973

Private European Collection, acquired from the above

Thence by descent

The Denver Art Museum, 1998 - 2017, (TL 18281)

Laurie Gwen Shapiro, "Design Hunting: The Frick of the Upper West Side" in New York Magazine, Fall 2017 - Winter 2018

The seated figure is completely enveloped in the skin of a feline, indicating his possible warrior status. The highest ranking Aztec warriors were associated with the eagle or jaguar cults and wore helmets and skins of these avatars, the tlahuiztli was the costume denoting the chosen animal, worn for ceremony and possibly combat.

The feline head has large rounded bulging eyes and tightly coiled nostrils, the strong tongue extends down onto the folded arms of the figure, who peers out from within this massive animal head helmet. The figure rests in the classic posture of seated Aztec figures with the knees raised tightly to the body; here the animal's paws and clawed feet are carved on the limbs. On the figure's back is a four-pointed star emblem with two prongs on the top, such dorsal insignias are worn by high-ranking warriors.

For figures wearing animal and bird skins, see Eduardo Matos Moctezuma and Felipe Solís Olguín, Aztecs, London, 2002, p. 451, cat. no. 206, and p. 456, cat. no. 228.