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Excerpt from Catalogue of the Celebrated and Well-Known Collection of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Indian, Peruvian, Mexican and Chinese Antiquities I. The highest bidder to be the buyer; and if any dispute arise between bidders, the lot so disputed shall be immediately put up again, provided the seller cannot decide the said dispute. II. No person to advance less than 1s.; above Five Pounds 2s. 6d.; and so on in proportion. III. The Purchasers to give in their names and places of abode, and to pay down 5s. in the Pound, if required, in part of payment of the Purchase-money; in default of which, the Lot or Lots purchased to be immediately put up again and re-sold. IV. The Sale of any lot is not to be set aside on account of any error in the enumeration of the numbers stated, or errors of description. V. The Lots to be taken away at the Buyer's Expense, immediately after the Conclusion of the Sale; in default of which, Messrs. S. Leigh Sotheby John Wilkinson will not hold themselves responsible if lost, stolen, damaged or otherwise destroyed, but they will be left at the sole risk of the Purchaser. If at the expiration of Two Days after the conclusion of the Sale, the Lots are not cleared or paid for, they will then be catalogued for immediate sale, and the expense, the same as if re-sold, will be added to the amount at which they were bought. Messrs. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson will have the option of re-selling the Lots uncleared either by public or private sale, without any notice being given to the defaulter. VI. Upon failure of complying with the above conditions, the money required or deposited in part of payment shall be forfeited; and if any loss is sustained in the re-selling of such lots as are not cleared or paid for all charges on such re-sale shall he made good by the defaulter at this sale. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The nine turquoise mosaics from Mexico are some the most striking pieces in the collections of the British Museum. Among the few surviving such artifacts, these exquisite objects include two masks, a shield, a knife, a helmet, a double-headed serpent, a mosaic on a human skull, a jaguar, and an animal head. They all originate from the Mixtec and Aztec civilizations first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century. The mosaics have long excited admiration for their masterful blend of technical skill and artistry and fascination regarding their association with ritual and ceremony. Only recently though, have scientific investigations undertaken by the British Museum dramatically advanced knowledge of the mosaics by characterizing, for the first time, the variety of natural materials that were used to create them. Illustrated with more than 160 color images, this book describes the recent scientific findings about the mosaics in detail, revealing them to be rich repositories of information about ancient Mexico. The materials used to construct the mosaics demonstrate their makers' deep knowledge of the natural world and its resources. The effort that would have been involved in procuring the materials testifies to the mosaics' value and significance in a society imbued with myths and religious beliefs. The British Museum's analyses have provided evidence of the way that the materials were prepared and assembled, the tools used, and the choices that were made by artisans. In addition, by drawing on historical accounts including early codices, as well as recent archaeological discoveries, specialists have learned more about the place of the mosaics in ancient Mexican culture. Filled with information about the religion, art, and natural and cultural history as well as the extraordinary ability of modern science to enable detailed insight into past eras, Turquoise Mosaics from Mexico offers an overview of the production, utilization, and eventual fate of these beautiful and mysterious objects.