Plate with Painted Motifs

A dense, curving design and a palette of purple, orange, and brown, make it difficult to discern the central pattern of this plate. Hidden in the upper half of this complex design is a face consisting of two oval eyes and a longer oval mouth with pointed teeth. The claw-like hands of this creature reach out to either side; its left hand is orange while the right is purple. A smaller serpentine creature can be seen on the lower half. Although some scholars have identified the central figure as the Alligator or Crocodile God, others suggest the figure’s walking posture more closely resembles the occasionally upright iguana. In one myth, a supernatural iguana brought fire to humans.