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Artwork Tombstone
CultureAztec
TitleSpatula(?)
Date1200–1521
MediumWood
DimensionsMount: 3/8 × 2 1/4 × 2 in. (1 × 5.7 × 5.1 cm)
Object: 12 3/4 × 1/2 × 5/8 in. (32.4 × 1.3 × 1.6 cm)
Overall (includes mount): 13 1/8 × 2 1/4 × 2 in. (33.3 × 5.7 × 5.1 cm)
Credit LineRaymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number94.220
This artwork is currently on view.
Image Forthcoming

Few wooden objects from this era survived in Mesoamerica, and we have only a handful that are attributed to the powerful Aztec state in central Mexico that Cortés conquered in the early sixteenth century. This object, said to have been found in Xochimilco, a Post-Classic town that was an Aztec tributary state, is identified as a spatula because no one has been able to offer a definitive explanation for what it might be.

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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Cite this page
"Spatula(?) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=94.220