In Aztec culture, one of the most popular jewelry among high-ranking officials was a labret - a piece of jewelry similar to a piercing under the lower lip. This labret in the form of a snake's head with an articulated tongue was made in 1300-1500. from an alloy of gold, copper and silver. The Aztecs created a huge amount of gold objects, but many of them were melted down into bars during the European conquest. Among the surviving artifacts, the specimen presented here is recognized as one of the most beautiful Aztec jewelry that has survived to this day. It was found in the Templo Mayor, among the ruins of a complex of religious buildings in Tenochtitlan.
The labret, which the Aztecs called "tentetl" (tentetl), was a symbol of political power, sometimes it was awarded to warriors for outstanding achievements. However, gold labrets were available to members of the royal family. In the open mouth of the artifact, there are 16 sharp teeth and two large fangs protruding from the front - as if the snake is preparing to throw. The long curved body ends in a cylinder. The tongue of the labret is removable and can be swung from side to side. Since the decoration is inconvenient to wear, it was worn during various ceremonies.
For almost the entire XX century, the labret was kept in various private collections, in 1978 it was exhibited at Sotheby's in New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased the piece in 2004. In 2017–2018 the exhibit was presented at the Golden Kingdoms: Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas exhibition. There are other similar labrets made in the form of animals, and another snake decoration, discovered in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, is today in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington.
