Cactus Gallery LA
HUE HUE'S MASK ~ XOLOITZCUINTLI by Pamela Enríquez-Courts
$ 250.00
Metallic Acrylic Paint on Wood, 10 x 10"
This piece was inspired by the beautiful masks that the Azteca often used in cultural and spiritual ceremonies and celebrations.
Xoloitzcuintli (sholo-eets-queen-tlee)dogs were connected to Mesoamerican daily life and cosmologies. On the earthly plane, they guarded people and their homes and were thought to be a gift to humans to guard them in life and guide them in the afterlife.
According to Mexica (Aztec) stories, most humans would have to travel through eight levels of the underworld before arriving at the last level, where they would find their final resting place. During this four-year, perilous journey challenges abound, including crossing a treacherous river, in which it is said that the trusty travel companion xolo waits at the river’s shore for its master’s call to help them across the dangerous waters.
The recognition and popularity of México’s Dia de los Muertos celebration has boosted the breed’s popularity.
Xolo dog remains interred between A.D. 1325 and 1521 were found at Templo Mayor (“main temple”) in México City, the symbolic center of the Aztec Empire known as Tenochtitlán.
