| The magnificent shield now in Vienna’s Museum fur Volkerkunde was found in the eighteenth century, together with a fan and a headdress, in a storage chest at Ambras Castle in the Tyrol. It is unusual for its figurative design of an animal with the sign for warfare in the front of its mouth. The animal is made of blue cotinga over a red-feather background; eyes, teeth, and claws are made from thin gold sheets, and gold outlines the feather pattern and fire-water band, a war symbol. The animal has generally been identified as a coyote, but the suggestion has been made that here again is the water monster Ahuizotl, and the design resembles the Ahuizotl relief found at Tepoztlan. The monster probably appears on this unusually beautiful shield because that was also the name of ruler Ahuizotl, and perhaps it was his personal possession. This shield may have been part of the treasures of Moctezuma predecessors stored in the Palace of Axayacatl, where it was found by Cortes and his men. All gold and feather treasures were kept sealed in the old palace. |
