The Miscellaneous Sellers
The Cape Seller
In Book 10, Folio 46r in the Spanish-English Translation, "The Cape Seller", it describes the process of how a merchant like this makes a cape while also describing other items they also sell. The translation states, “To whiten them. And in addition to this, they often dye them with fake colors to make them look elegant. And some of the ones that they sell are loosely woven and patched, so that it is not apparent that their edge has been creased and that one strip [of cloth] has been made to look like two with a fake sewing, as well as other such items made with fake and phony patterns.” (García Garagarza 2023) .
However in the Nahuatl-English Transcription differs a little bit by being more vague compared to the spanish translation where in goes into more detail. “[They are] pounded, beaten, burnished–burnished with pottery, with a bone; dyed with [false] colors, added [false] colors.[For] skirts,shifts, capes he sells renovated strips of cloth raveled of end, false of sewing, mended, [false] of design, [false] of pattern.” (Anderson & Dibble 1953–1982). A slight discrepancy is in the Nahuatl translation. There is mention of pottery and bone as they are both used to burnish however, in the Spanish translation, there is no mention of it.
The Huipil
Looking further at the image of The Cape Seller along with the embroidered cloth we can see the creation of a Huipil or Huipilli in Nahuatl. The Huipil is a large traditional garment worn by women, looking at the image we can see it also has a flower motif and a flower border around the bottom. Although both texts refer to capes being sold it could also be possible that they were made and sold by those merchants as well.
The Bad Oztomecatl
In Folio 43r in the Spanish-English Translation discusses the vanguard merchant, "Oztomecatl", as someone who has experience or is knowledgeable with precious stones, to be able to carve them and later polish them to sell them without cheating anyone. It goes into detail and describes the type of stones and the refining process. To refine them the merchant would either use the otlatl to file some or sharpen others. Stones that are considered good to sell, are stones such as emeralds and precious pearls.
“The one who sells precious stones, or the lapidary, has the following characteristics: he knows how to subtly carve precious stones and polish them to make them shine. And he polishes some of these with a solid cane that they call otlatl, files down others, and sharpens others. One who sells the stones without cheating—one who has good knowledge of all kinds of precious stones that gleam and shine because they are fine and that he considers good, such as fine emeralds, precious pearls, jet, and other stones that are mottled and speckled, as well as others that have many colors—will later sell them to others for the price that he may get according to the properties and characteristics of each one of them.”(García Garagarza 2023)
The Nahuatl-Englsih translation becomes more specific as it points out color of the stones. It states the merchant as a seller of green stones and not only does he sell green stones, specifically those that are different variations of green such as “blue obsidian”, “smokey fine turquoise”, “herb green”, etc. A similarity they both share is the amount of knowledge the seller has as he is described as having great wisdom and experience. It is also mentioned that he is also a polisher who can make these stones shine and later sells them.
The Nahuatl translation states “The good seller of green stones is of experience, of great wisdom. He sells different stones –fine turquoise; green stones; emerald- green jade; blue obsidian; the smoky fine turquoise; the transparent, the herb-green, the deep green jewels of green stone. He sells, he deals in jet, in pearls, in opals. He finds, he identifies all the different precious stones, the jewels. He seeks out stones.” (Anderson & Dibble 1953 - 1982)
The Feather Seller
In the text The Feather Seller, also known as "Ihhuinamacac", or feather merchant can be described as being two different types of people one being a good seller and the other being a bad seller. As described in both the Spanish–Englsih Translation and Nahuatl–English Translation they say a good seller values the feathers as he takes good care of them, which makes them very valuable. Especially feathers that are green which are more difficult to acquire. When describing a bad seller they both say that merchant sells fake feathers ad would make older feathers seem new by using dyes and fake colors to make the faded and darker colors disappear. When selling fake feathers in order to keep their form or curve one would use a type of glue to treat them.
“The feather artisan is counted among the merchants. And one who is a good artisan values the feathers very much, trades them, and takes very good care of them. His job is to sell valued feathers of all kinds of birds and of every color: the very green feathers and the ones that are very valuable, which have a curved tip, and the ones that produce some iridescent-like patterns when they shine. And one who is not like this manufactures fake feathers and makes old feathers look new by using fake colors: a brownish color or a washed-out and whitish color, [that is,] a fake color. All in all, fake colors.”(García Garagarza 2023)
“The feather seller is a feature worker, a merchant-the man [with] the basket.The good feather seller [is] a gentle worker-one who esteems [his wares], who is dedicated. He sells various feathers-precious feathers; he sells fine green feathers, chili-green feathers, this curved at the tip, the feathers of young birds. He sells [feathers of the trogonorous, the troupial, the blue cotinga. The bad feather worker [is] a [fraudulent] embellisher of feathers, a treater of feathers with glue. He sells old, worn feathers, damaged feathers. He dyes feathers; he dyes those which are faded, dirty, yellow, darkened, smoked.”(Anderson & Dibble 1953–1982)
Conclusion
Overall looking at these images and comparing the texts it shows how complex and essential these merchants were to society and even if the item they were selling may not be important there is a certain expectation that comes to people in that profession. Cape sellers are important not just for making items for ceremonies and other events but making clothing, such as the Huipil for women as well. With the vanguard merchants, there seems to be an expectation as in their profession they are known to be wise and full of knowledge as they collect and refine these stones and pearls to sell. When it comes to feather working the codex shows how a bad feather worker operates, using dyes to make old feathers bright and colorful, and using glue to keep their shape. It gives an idea of many other merchants and traders who have a similar work ethic, some being worse than others, and they try to cheat people by selling fake items and trying to present them as something more valuable than it is.
Works Cited
Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 10: The People", fol. 46r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/10/folio/46r/images/c5410f72-4968-43c6-93bc-3b2c08a41fb0 Accessed 6 May 2024.
Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 10: The People", fol. 43r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/10/folio/43r/images/c0414ba1-5544-4926-87e7-a678b2923ef0 Accessed 6 May 2024.
Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 10: The People", fol. 44r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/10/folio/44r/images/0 Accessed 5 May 2024.
