Pendant in the Form of a Grasshopper

Item number 39.56 from the Brooklyn Museum.

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Credit Line

Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Label

Chapultepec, or “Grasshopper Hill,” was the first Mexica settlement in the Valley of Mexico, and this carved aquamarine grasshopper pendant may have a symbolic association with the site. Located on the western shore of Lake Texcoco, Chapultepec Hill was a source of fresh water for the capital city of Tenochtitlán. It was also a sacred mountain shrine for Mexica rulers, who had their portraits carved in the rock cliffs. For the Mexica, grasshoppers signified the end of the rainy season, when crops started to grow.

Chapultepec, o “Cerro Saltamontes,” fue el primer asentamiento Mexica en el Valle de México, y este pendiente en forma de saltamontes de aguamarina tallada puede tener una asociación simbólica con el lugar. Ubicado en la costa oeste del Lago Texcoco, el cerro de Chapultepec era una fuente de agua fresca para la ciudad capital de Tenochtitlán. Era también un santuario de montaña sagrado para los gobernantes Mexica, quienes hacían tallar sus retratos en los acantilados de piedra. Para los Mexica, los saltamontes significaban el fin de la temporada lluviosa, cuando los cultivos comenzaban a crecer.