Pre-Columbian, Valley of Mexico, Aztec Empire, ca. 1400 to 1521 CE. An incredible, terrifying sculpture of the god Xipe Totec, the Flayed One (sometimes translated as "The Owner of Skin"), or rather a priest ritually impersonating the deity. The figure wears the skin of a flayed sacrifice, clear from the empty look in the deepset eyes and the wide, sagging mouth with another mouth visible inside of it. The figure also wears the skin of the body, which comes to wrist and mid-thigh, clearly depicted with thick lines where the body of the wearer is visible below it. A triangular motif is incised into the skin around the chest. The feet and hands - belonging to the living creature wearing the skin - are carefully sculpted. When originally made, the body was probably painted to be a mottled yellow-green-black to indicate the decay of the flesh suit as similar figures of this god are. Size: 10.25" W x 28.75" H (26 cm x 73 cm); 30.25" H (76.8 cm) on included custom stand.

Human sacrifice, and specifically the ritual flaying and dismemberment of human sacrifices, were crucial components of the religious practices that marked the passage of Mesoamerican time. Worship of Xipe Totec required the death by arrow of multiple victims every year to spread their blood into the soil and renew the agricultural cycle; these victims were then flayed and had their skin fashioned into suits by priests to be worn during other rituals in honor of the god. These skin suits were worn until they dropped away, rotting, revealing the living man beneath. Xipe Totec was not the only god who required flaying for his worship in this pantheon; for example, we know that flaying of female victims occurred during the festival of Tlazeolteotl. This sculpture provides us a glimpse of a truly lost past world.

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.

Provenance: private southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s

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#140905

Repaired and restored from approximately a dozen pieces, mainly on the limbs. Overpainting along the repair lines. Head is in excellent condition and the well-done repairs are unobtrusive and almost impossible to see.