Visual arts of the Aztecs

A majority of the chess games at the Chessmen Museum are recent designs. This doesn´t mean they all have a modern theme, though. This week, part two of the two-article series about the pre-Columbian aspects of chess games that were inspired by the Aztecs from current Mexico.

Many of the internationally themed chess games were purchased by the late Mr J.M. Glotzbach on his travels. They are now part of the Chessmen Museum´s collection, which includes a chess set that was made in India (number 26 in the catalogue). Glotzbach bought this set in Casablanca but questioned its origins: the chess pieces reminded him more of ancient Mexican cultures than of India. His concerns were probably justified. Perhaps it was a matter of communication problems on behalf of the Casablanca salesman: maybe he had confused India with Indians? The deal was sealed in 1977, and the denomination Indian was not yet politically incorrect in those days.

When we look at the alleged alabaster chess pieces and the richly decorated chessboard of grey and turquoise fields, adorned with figures and gold, it is indeed reminiscent of pre-colonial Central America and more specifically, the Aztecs.

Magical city
The Aztecs are particularly well-known for their gory religion that demanded many human sacrifices. But Aztec culture entailed much more than that. Their capital city, Tenochtitlan, was built in Lake Texcoco, which in itself was quite astonishing. We can read about this in Aztec pictorial tales (codices) and in Spanish writings from the 16th century. The Spaniards saw the wealthy city, organised in the same way as a chessboard, for the first time in 1519 and thought they were dreaming.

When they reached the city, they saw big dams in the water which led to the city. The streets were broad and straight and the four main roads were aligned with the compass points. There was a religious centre with temples and a huge pyramid in the middle of the city, which occupied a third of the town´s surface. All sacrifices took place here and each of the city´s roads led to this central point. The city was surrounded by gardens and fields on cane rafts, for agricultural purposes.

Inconceivable wealth
The Aztecs were known as a violent people even in their era and this had, among other things, to do with the fact that they considered warfare a religious obligation. They believed they were the chosen people and they continuously had to defeat other tribes to confirm that identity. Aztecs also believed that they had to sacrifice themselves, just as the gods had done when the sun and the moon were created. The many human sacrifices to the gods were necessary to maintain cosmic order and to guarantee the continuity of life.

Between the foundation of Tenochtitlan, around 1325, and the arrival of the Spaniards, the Aztecs had managed to build the greatest empire of Central America. The city had around 200.000 inhabitants which made it one of the largest cities in the world at that time. The defeated tribes paid tributes to the Aztec king, all of which are listed in the Mendoza codex. There was a wide variety of riches that entered the city. It was for good reason that the Spaniards were in total awe when they saw all of these riches up close.  A few years later they conquered the city with the help of some of the Aztecs´ enemies as well as smallpox. The Aztecs had no resistance against this unknown, contagious disease and half of the inhabitants of the city had already died from it. Present-day Mexico City is built on the ruins of the destroyed city of Tenochtitlan.

Chess pieces
The Aztecs had a rich culture of art, poetry, song and dance. Sculptors were just some of many kinds of artists and their work was sacred. The Aztecs believed that sculptures were prayers set in stone. Sculptors would mostly make realistic sculptures, not only of gods but also of animals. The Aztecs glorified animals and several animals were considered sacred.

The remaining sculptures show similarities to the chess pieces of chess set number 26 in the J.M. Glotzbach collection, hereby officially renamed the Aztec chess set. The king, for example, with his large headdress, looks very much like the god of the underworld Mictlantecuhtli, although the skull isn´t too clearly reflected in the chess piece. Since aristocrats also wore head ornaments made of bird feathers, the piece could also represent an Aztec king. The bigger and more beautiful the headdress, the more important the person who wears it. This is why it´s possible the chess king represents the last of the Aztec kings, Montezuma II.

The king´s elite troops are depicted in the Mendoza codex wearing weaponry based on eagles and jaguars, both sacred animals. The knight in this set also shows some of the characteristics of a jaguar. The rook very much resembles the temple pyramids of the capital city, Tenochtitlan, and the bishop is possibly a priest.

Where the queen is concerned there are several candidates, but the important goddess of water, Chalchiutlicue, seems the most logical choice, considering her peculiar head ornament and her prominent position within the realm of the gods.

The pawns are not willing to give us much information, except for their loin cloths. All Aztec men wore such a cloth wrapped around their waist. Pieces of the fabric hung down between the legs, covering the back as well as the front of the legs. In Aztec society you could tell the social position of the cloth´s wearer by the fabric it was made of: only noblemen wore loin cloths made of cotton. The rest of society made their cloths out of sisal plant fibre.

The board
The chessboard also has a hint of Aztec culture, specifically, their religious calendar. Aztecs used the sun, the moon and the stars to calculate the correct times for harvesting, festival celebrations and trading.

This intricately designed calendar is encircled by a snake whose head and tail join together in their course. The outer ring illustrates a cycle of 52 years, each year marked with one of four symbols: a rabbit, an axe, a flint or a temple. The interior ring defines the 18 festivals which the Aztecs celebrated throughout the year at the main temple. The symbols in this case are a stag, a rabbit, water, a dog, a monkey, grass, cane, a jaguar, an eagle, a vulture, movement, a flint knife, rain, a flower, a crocodile, wind, a house, a lizard, a snake or a skull.

When we look at the chessboard, we can see similar symbols in the squares. Plenty of reasons to agree with Mr Glotzbach´s doubts about this allegedly Indian chess set and his theory with regard to the ancient cultures of Mexico.

By Marjolein Overmeer