This is a curved pipe with a bowl shaped like a knob on a slender pole. Along the stem of the pipe are carved scenes of whale and walus hunting and village scenes with food preparation.Pipes like this were used but also made for trade.

Frank L. Babbott Fund

These three objects tell a story of Mexico’s early nineteenth-century Creole patriotism. The Mexican independence movement was fueled by Creoles, who were often denied a voice in colonial government. The 1821 Act of Independence formalized the independence that had been declared in 1810 and was signed by many Creole aristocrats, among them Don José María Gómez de Cervantes, whose portrait is on view nearby. New World figures like the Virgin of Guadalupe, who miraculously appeared to the Indian Juan Diego in 1521, and Saint Felipe de Jesús, the first Mexican-born saint, became important nationalist symbols, supporting the idea that the independence of Mexico was divinely ordained.


Estos tres objetos cuentan la historia del patriotismo criollo en el México de inicios del siglo XIX. El movimiento de independencia mexicano fue promovido por criollos, a quienes con frecuencia se les negó voz en el gobierno colonial. El Acta de la Independencia de 1821 formalizó la independencia que había sido declarada en 1810 y fue firmada por muchos aristócratas criollos, entre ellos don José María Gómez de Cervantes, cuyo retrato se exhibe aquí cerca. Las imágenes sagradas del Nuevo Mundo como la Virgen de Guadalupe, la que milagrosamente se le apareció al indio Juan Diego en 1521, y San Felipe de Jesús, el primer santo nacido en México, llegaron a ser importantes símbolos nacionalistas que apoyaron la idea de que la independencia de México era un designio divino.

Fish lure or charm carved in the shape of a small seal with a perforation in the middle. The perforations around the face of the seal have been infilled with black pigment.

A. Augustus Healy Fund

A sheet of paper with a pictorial genealogy recorded in multicolored inks. The focal point of the genealogy is Juan Tepetzin, who is dressed in the dark cloak in the bottom center of the document. His forebears, who are depicted above him, are members of the native elite and they are wearing elegant cloaks and sandals and holding bouquets favored by the nobility. Tepetzin's ancestor Yxtletletzin is sheltered within a palace. The document is identified as being from Tlaxcala for a few reasons: the wooden stools on which Tepetzin's male relatives sit and the brick-like upper story of the palace are typical Tlaxcalan works, and similar bouquets and red-netted cloaks are found in the Lienzo of Tlaxcala, a narrative painting of Tlaxcala's Conquest-era history. In this document, two rectangles (one with five plants) were added after the genealogy was painted. These rectangles denote agricultural fields and indicate with the Nahuatl text that Juan Tepetzin took over some abandoned lands. The genealogy therefore relates to a land transfer.

Pictorial document on one single, large sheet of amate paper (composed of about 17 pieces that have been adhered together). There are 12 Nahuatl inscriptions in light black ink, oriented in various directions. The place name San Pedro Atlapolco occurs several times, which is why the document is believed to have originated in that community, and to record the foundation of its church. The drawing of ink and watercolor depicts a church under construction in the center of the community. Native men dressed in loose tunics, belted at the waist, carry loads of construction materials toward the building site. In front of the building, a friar is seated at a table with a pen and several pages of writing. Behind him, native nobles gesture in support, and in front native women kneel and form the audience. This document is part of the Techialoyan corpus, a group of pictorial documents produced by and for native communities in the State and Valley of Mexico, in the 18th century (see Diana Fane, ed., Converging Cultures: Art and Identity in Spanish America, New York: Brooklyn Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 1996, p. 82-3).

In this drawing the warrior on horseback is attacking another on foot. The rider carries an eagle feather trimmed shield in his hand that has a center design of a lizard and phases of the moon on the rim. He wears a long eagle headdress. His horse's tail is tied and feathered for war. The figure on the ground turns back and fires his gun at the rider. The bullets can be seen flying beyond the horse's rump. He wears leggings and a loin cloth and carries a powder horn.

Two warriors are battling in this ledger drawing: the left side warrior carries a gun and wears long leggings, a vest and a cap with feathers. The rider on the right wears a short feathered headdress, long shirt, short leggings and tall moccasins. He has thrust a long lance towards his opponent. Even the horses butt heads during this battle. These drawings are done by tearing out paper from ledger books that were used by army and reservation post managers as a substitute for using hides- the traditional medium fro such drawingsfor offical art papers.

The battle scene on this ledger drawing is briefly as follows: The Warrior has been wounded in the chest and is bleeding from his mouth as he lies on the ground. He wears a full length eagle headdress with a non-native styled coat with buttons. His war lance lies alongside of him. His horse is also wounded in the side in front of the saddle and is bleeding from his nose. Five army men are attacking the warrior as they lay on the ground all firing you can see the bullets fly over the rear of the horse and the spurts from their guns. These drawings are done by tearing out paper from ledger books that were used by army and reservation post managers as a substitute for using hides- the traditional medium fro such drawingsfor offical art papers.