January 28, Sunday, rise and shine to a bountiful (free) hotel buffet breakfast and absolutely pristine weather. The kind of day when residents say they would rather be drawn and quartered than leave the Bay Area. Twenty-five miles north will bring us to San Francisco and the de Young museum to tour the soon-to-leave Teotihuacan exhibition. Wonderful artifacts on display along with a wealth of narrative context to put it all in perspective. Items were pulled from all over, from museums in Mexico and here in the U.S. and from private collections. One thing missing is what the original inhabitants of the city communicate to us other than their art and constructions. The residents of the city left no written language, no glyphs, no hieroglyphics, nothing. But such superior imaginative renderings in all forms of artistry go a long way.
All of the trees cut back, ready for the next season.
No selfie here. Another innocent passerby conscripted for photo duty.
In part of the underground chamber illustrated above is a fully realized 3-D depiction of a section of the earth to include lakes filled with liquid mercury. The ceiling is embedded with flecks of pyrite, gold and silver to represent the heavens. In flickering torchlight, the scene would come to life with the "heavens" alight with stars and the mercury below shimmering. Like Apple's headquarters building, this was no doubt a highly restricted area, only for the cognoscenti.
Scrimshaw on a solid tusk or whalebone is one thing, this is quite another. Conch shells are an order of magnitude more delicate to work with, so this artifact is a tour de force.
Very intricate work on all of them.
It doesn't say so, but we'll consider this a mother and her child. Every object needs a back story.
See below for description. When these colors were fresh, even more "pow!".
See below for description.
Some remaining green pigment can still be seen. Research shows that color was everywhere - a riot of color. This fellow wasn't intended to be drab natural stone. Still, either way this is not the guy to meet in an unlit alley telling you to give him your wallet.
There's a lot going on here. Great how something so delicate survived in tact. Gimme color!
Holes in the earlobes have this mask at one time wearing earrings, probably big hoops of some type.
See below.
Pan shot of one of the rooms - there were many rooms devoted to this exhibition.
Ah, for a shelf at home to hold them all. Way better than Beanie Babies.
Color reveal yourself. This one has pastel vestiges, so be thankful for what remains.
The artifact Norm is looking at has been reconstructed from several broken pieces with some areas of missing pottery filled in with clay - a restorer's jewel.
This whimsical little fella was Pam's favorite. Wonder why?
Okay, so it may have been used to catch the red runoff from sacrifice captives. Then why does this bird look too cute?
Nice that it's not crowded .
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See below.  |
See below.
In the center is the "poster boy" of the exhibition.
More fragments of what was. So much looting went on, in particular, in the early '60's and when that loot was ripped from context it became more like an insect on a pin.
Evidently there was a large industry devoted to making ceremonial goods to use in burials, gifts to the gods, tossing down cenotes, religious ceremonies and this was a large employer and economic engine. These goods were often figurines or the ceremonial knives shown here. So, in a sense, throwaway societies are nothing new. For two gods you'd need two ceremonial goods, four gods, four throwaway trinkets. A booming business with visitors from the empire descending upon the city daily. Some far distant future museum may have a display like this, only of PEZ containers. And people would wonder, "just what the hell are these figurine thingys, anyway?".
Next to the bird vessel, this goofy looking guy with the orange earrings was Pam's second favorite creation. But cute? Not so much.
Necklace with connecting string long since disintegrated. The smaller U-shaped beads are actually realistic teeth when viewed closely. But smaller and more stylized, with all of those ugly root projections of real teeth missing. Much more refined for a woman of means.
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The cutout in his belly would have probably held a tiny effigy of some type, perhaps an offering. |
This fellow is doing some serious leg splits while reaching out - perhaps an advert for a fitness center.
How civilizations end is much in the current thought. By the time of the Aztecs (we know how they ended), Teotihuacan had been long abandoned even by those who had hung around for awhile after the initial "troubles" in the 7th century CE. Another mighty empire, an amazing civilization, "poof!". We want to know because if it can happen to them then what's to say....?
Next stop....the gift shop. A beautiful, thick volume, issued in conjunction with the show was on sale for $75+ tax. We passed on that and instead, bought the same book on Amazon for $56, free shipping, no tax. YAY!
Our own empire may come to an end sooner or (hopefully) later, but for now the fountains are running and the sun is shining and Sacramento is beckoning. The building in the back is the Steinhart Aquarium.
Taken purely for artistic reasons.
This is the Spreckels Temple of Music, a bandshell next to the museum. A piano, placed nearby for public use, was being played by various passersbys who seemed to know what they were doing. Very pleasant.
What a city. Compare this view to that in the opening credits of the 1950's TV weekly policed drama "San Francisco Beat". Norm watched it in real time, Pam was just a babe in swaddling.
The life of Riley.
Back at the home front, opening the front door and we are greeted by our house mascot coincidentally named "Teotihuacan" ("Teo" to friends). We bought him three years ago at an art gallery and named him after Norm's interest in Mesoamerican cities of old. No city rings a bigger chime than Teotihuacan.
P.S., the door is actually a dark red rather than the pinkish hue the camera makes out.
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