The Effigy

Measuring sixty-four centimeters in height, the effigy censer represents a seated deity possessing an enlarged head, expressive face, and bottle-shaped body to which tubular appendages representing arms and legs were attached. Although much of the surface has been badly eroded because it was either buried in the ground or concealed in a cave for over four centuries before its discovery, enough of the fresco survives to determine that it represented a potent spirit force known as a Maquiltonal, a name meaning “Five Soul” in the Nahuatl language of Central and Southern Mexico.

The effigy censer was probably considered by its creators to have been endowed with a life force. The mouth, nostrils, ears, and heart were perforated to allow breath-like scrolls of smoke from the burning incense to be emitted from the body cavity. Many indigenous peoples of North America also believe that clay is a living spirit, an extension of the earth on which they depend for sustenance.