Funeral Urns
Nelly M. Robles Garc?a
On hearing of the death of Se?ora Herb 2 Cane, the whole family became very busy. They were artisans from Atzompa, the neighborhood where they made ceramics. Among the families that produced pots, plates, cups, jugs, vases, flat clay dishes and all sorts of other ceramic objects, the family that lived at House 10 were outstanding, due to the fact that their specialty was the production of funeral urns.
Urns were cup-like vessels that were decorated with images of the Beniz?a?s gods or of human beings in the sitting position in an attitude of keeping watch over the funeral room. These pieces had characteristic elements of one or more gods etched in compositions with a quality that could not be improved on. They were destined to accompany and lead the dead on their journey to the underworld and in their eternal life.
During the funereal rites, the urns were placed in the deceased?s house and also in his tomb, as they were the central offerings along with other utensils to ensure that the person had divine protection, food and water on the difficult journey.
There was great competition among the producers of urns to make the best. There were therefore many different types made with different techniques. The quality of the clay played a major part in the quality of the final product, as did the coloring, the composition of the different, formal elements of the urn and the complex attributes of the gods that had to fit into confined spaces on these fine objects.
The urn potter?s workshop was no different to any other workshop. His work area was in the patio; there was a covered space to store the clay brought in from the rivers; there were also benches for him and his apprentices to sit on while they modeled the clay. Beyond, there was a pile of logs for the fire that heated the stone oven in which the urns were cooked once they were dry.
Their tools consisted of bone, wood spatulas,
bone needles, silex sanders and obsidian used for the modeling. They invariably used a grindstone to grind sediments and paint, in order to achieve a greater homogeneity in the paste.
Being a specialist in the production of
urns was a privilege enjoyed by only a few. These potters had special knowledge and they had contacts among the priests. They were important people, given their skill and the nature of their mission of producing urns that would accompany the dead on their journey. They had to serve as apprentices to the master potters for many years, and they had to learn a lot from the priests with whom they spent long periods of time in ritualistic sessions in the temples in order to understand the different facets of each one of the gods.
The family at Number 10 settled in to make the urns that would later accompany the dead person. Given the social standing of the deceased, an urn for a female and with the characteristics of Cociji had to be made. Cocijo would have a headdress of feathers and traces of a
jaguar, and he would have eye patches, ear shields and a serpent?s forked tongue to give special expression to his face.
The effigy was in a sitting position, cross-legged with his hands on his knees; she was dressed in a quexquematl and a sort of skirt; the mask of Xipe T?tec hung at her breast; it was placed on a bar from which hung three snakes. The red color of the urn gave her an expression of solemn respect.
The other four urns that would accompany the dead person were simpler; they were vessels with the effigies of male people on them, also in the sitting position, and they were dressed only in a maxtlatl. They had necklaces of large beads round their necks and they wore a simple cylindrically shaped headdress with the attributes of Pitao Cozobi; a discreet cape hung from the headdress to the shoulders.
Their faces were painted and they had large earrings and lip rings worn on the lower lip. The facial features were very finely produced and the red powder accentuated them. This was the quality of the work done at Number 10 and this was the reason they were chosen to do this important work for the citizens of Dani B?a.
However, House Number 10 also made more simple urns for less important people; smaller vessels that had the images of Cocijo, Pitao Cozobi, the Bat god and Xipe Pitao Pezelao, the god of the old on them, as well as small, finely drawn effigies on them; their favorites were the ones that had big headdresses on them and Cocijo, the most worshipped god.
When those at Number 10 had finished a piece, it was carefully put in the sun to dry; once dry, the apprentices polished it with a special stone and then they burnished it with a piece of deer skin leather. At this stage, more detail could be added. Then the last phase consisted of cooking the piece in the oven, which was covered to ensure that the piece came out a gray color. Powdering it with the red dust was the duty of the priest and done during the funeral rites. We can thus see that the role of specialist artisan played by House Number 10 was very important in Beniz?a society.
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