SCHELLHAS] DRESS OF UPPER PART OF BODY 611 



look almost as if it were dressed. The cloak fastened on the shoulder, 

 described by Landa, if we judge from the representations, can by no 

 means have formed a j^art of the regular dress. A cloak of this kind 

 is found, it is true, of similar shape to that which occurs in the Mexi- 

 can manuscripts, but rarely, and then only on persons who evidently 

 wear a costume j^eculiar to a certain privileged class. The same can 

 be said regarding the figures in the Yucatan collection and in repre- 

 sentations on the reliefs. The trunk is nude in far the greater num- 

 ber of instances. Moreover, the cloaks occurring in the manuscripts 

 do not wholly correspond with the one described by Landa. They 

 are not square (as the}' usually are in the Mexican manuscripts), but 

 apparently oval, and are not fastened at the slioulder, but at the neck, 

 either in front or behind, so that the mantle falls either over the back 

 or over the breast. In Codex Troano-Cortesianus the latter is inva- 

 riably the case (see &, figure 123, from the Dresden codex, page 25, 

 below ; <?, figure 123, from the Dresden codex, page 27, below ; d, figure 

 123, Troano codex, page 16*, middle, compare jjages 15* to 17-', same 

 place) . 



These cloaks, like the women's petticoats, are almost always adorned 

 with gay patterns, which a^-e reproduced in the representations. It 

 is also characteristic of their: vhat the hem is almost always edged with 

 fringe, which in the ncre valuable cloaks possibly consisted of 

 feathers." 



Strange to say, thase cloaks do not occur at all on the Yucatec 

 reliefs. Nor are they to be recognized in representations from other 

 Central American ruined cities. We find articles of dress for the 

 upper part of the body, but usually of quite another, often unrecog- 

 nizable, shape. 



Wliat has been said above of the occurrence of cloaklike garments 

 in the manuscripts holds good in the clay figures of the Yucatan col- 

 lection. They are always an appurtenance of the dress belonging to 

 a special rank. The collection contains several very remarkable ex- 

 amples of such, which differ in many respects from anything that we 

 are accustomed to see on the reliefs or in the manuscripts. We have 

 already alluded to the beautifully executed figure of a priest whose 

 upper body is covered with a complete shirt (or jacket) with sleeves 

 which apparently consists of feather work. Two other figures in the 

 collection (see plate xlv, numbers 4 and 6) are still more striking. 

 Both have a capelike garment, which, beginning at the throat, covers 

 the arms and tnmk. While we may perhaps still doubt, in regard 



" It is possible that this article of dress is identical with the cotton cloths mentioned 

 by Cogolludo (Historia de Yucatan), called " tilmas ", or " hayates ", which were used 

 as covers at night and as cloaks by day. The description, according to which the latter 

 were richly ornamented and adorned with various colors, corresponds very well with 

 the representations in the codices. On the other hand, this idea is contradicted by 

 the fact that such mantles are represented so seldom and apparently only as garments 

 of state at religious ceremonies. 



