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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: TXbc on August 29, 2011, 06:43:39 PM
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I inherited an item from my grandmother who iherited it from a great great aunt of mine. our family has no idea of the origin of this piece. I am having great difficulty attempting to post pictures of it from my camera - the website keeps telling me the files are too large. It resembles a flask, it is made of earthenware pottery, and seems to be painted in a soft black color. it has a picture encircled on both sides of an Indian-looking character, kneeling down. Below the figure it says "Chalchicuey." I will continue attempting to post the pictures
Bev
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attempting to post a picture
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another picture within the size constraint
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3rd picture post
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Welcome to the forum! The pictures are a bit blurry which will make identification pretty difficult. It will help a lot if you have a LOT of light on the item, preferably near a bright window or better yet, take pictures outside. This usually helps. Sorry to make it more difficult for ya! I looked up "Chalchicuey" and couldn't find anything either. Although google translator detected it as Spanish.
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Thank you hosman, I will try harder with the photography tomorrow. The best pictures I took were over the 2K limit for the upload.
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There is no word with that spelling !! There are many similar, but google had none that matched. I checked the spanish, mayan, and aztec and all have similar words !! Are you sure that is the correct spelling ?? We need better pics if possible !!
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Thank you hosman, I will try harder with the photography tomorrow. The best pictures I took were over the 2K limit for the upload.
You can try to resize pics with whatever software you use to open the pic on your PC. There is usually an option such as "large web pic" or something similar. This will reduce the pics to a web size while keeping much of the detail.
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O.k. not trying to add to the all the request here, but with pottery the most important pic will be of the bottom, this can help in dating the item. I know it is not, but sure looks like a jim beam bottle.
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Thanks so much with the advice and I will try to get better pictures on here soon!
mart: I had the same experience googling this term. I have studied the letters many times and am fairly confident I have the letters right. The term I do get a hit on is Chalchicueyecan, which seems to relate to an area of Mexico near Veracruz. Alternatively, I have had hits on a slightly different spelling, Chalchique, which appears to be a river in El Salvador. Also, google has helped me discover an Aztec goddess named Chalchiuhtlicue which is interestingly similar.
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new picture 1 - inscription
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new picture 2
side 1
sorry, brightest pictures still too big - anyone know how to get HPMedia to downsize a pic?
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3rd pic - 2nd set
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underside view
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New "inset" photo
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one more photo with good light on the item
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So, to the experts out there - are these additional pictures I posted adequate for you to point me in the right direction for discovering the origin of this piece of pottery? Sorry it took me so many posts to add them! I am very new at this obviously, and not a great photographer either. I love researching my genealogy and this has been an interesting exercise in studying family history in a different way.
Thanks for all your help!
Bev.
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I seperated the wording as if first & last name and came up with this - Chicuey or Chicome Axochitzin, a warrior whose daughter became the mistress of Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte, a Spanish conquistador. Chicuey was son of Cacamatzin who was a 15th century Aztec noble with twelve children, only three of whom are known. 1. A female (name unknown), who married Nezahualpilli, the tlatoani of Texcoco. The pair had a son, named Cacamatzin after his grandfather, who succeeded his father as ruler of Texcoco.
2. Tlacaelel, named after his grandfather, who also became cihuacoatl.
3. Chicuey
try to contact a museum who specializes in Aztec/ Mexican History good luck & let us know what you find ;)
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Good thinking Wendy !! I was looking for one word as it was spelled !! It is a beautiful piece and while it doesn`t give me the feeling of being ancient,, it certainly is interesting !! I am curious about its origin as well !!
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Thanks everyone for your help - researching this piece has been a fun exercise! I will keep working on it.
Our best guess is that my great-great aunt, who was childless and travelled a great deal with her husband during the latter part of the 19th century to very early 20th century, may have acquired this item as a souvenir piece and it may have been new at that time. is it possible that the caption on the item might have been an older phonetic spelling that is no longer in use now?
one other item of hers which was given to me I already had appraised once, almost 30 years ago when it came to me - it is a large blue/white ming jar which has always been missing the top since the time my grandmother had it. at that time it was estimated at a value of $1,000 and I was told it was at least 350 years old. I have been thinking it may be time to have it re-appraised.
Bev.
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Excellent idea to have items re-appraised !! On most quality antiques values increase with time !! Change your insurance coverage to reflect current value as well !!