Sculpture of Tlazolteotl
- Audio guide stop: 144
- Gallery: Room 27
- Culture: Huaxtec
- Made in: Mexico
- Date: 900-1521
- Object type: figure
- Materials: sandstone
- Museum number: Am,+.7001
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you stands a striking sculpture of Tlazolteotl, a revered Huaxtec deity. Carved from a single slab of sandstone, this figure captures a powerful female figure with hands folded in front and adorned with a dramatic fan-shaped head-dress. At the center of the headdress is a cone resting on a cylinder section, suggesting a ceremonial formality to the figure's appearance.
Crafted between 900 and 1521 in what is now Mexico, this statue originates from the northern Gulf Coast area and reflects the artistic traditions of the Huaxtec people. Tlazolteotl was associated with fertility, weaving, childbirth, and the healing arts. Her role as the “eater of filth” signified her capacity to cleanse wrongdoing.
The sculpture was once part of a collection acquired in 1879 and came from the Panuco valley region. Its carved style and materials offer a tangible connection to a culture rich in spiritual and artistic expression.
See it in person
Sculpture of Tlazolteotl is on display in Room 27 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 144, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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