Handmade modernist silver pin with natural stone inlay and image of Quetzalcoatl. 
Approx 5cm / 2" long. Circa 1950's-1960's. Hallmarked Sterling Taxco
 
Quetzalcoatl, or "Feathered or Plumed Serpent" is a deity in Aztec culture and literature. Among the Aztecs, he was related to wind, Venus, Sun, merchants, arts, crafts, knowledge, and learning. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood. He is also a god of wisdom, learning and intelligence. He was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon. 
 
Quetzalcoatl was seen as a manifestation of the wind, one of the most powerful forces of nature. Quetzalcoatl came to teach the ancient inhabitants of Mexico the benefits of settled agriculture and the skills necessary to build temples. One of the valuable gifts received from the wind god was maize, the sacred food that formed the basis of the diet of the Mesoamerican peoples. The feathered serpent also prophesied the arrival of white conquerors from across the ocean, who would overthrow the indigenous gods and replace them with their own, undefined deity. Although he is frequently depicted as a serpent, he is more often shown in human form--the serpent being his symbol and his alter ego--and is usually described as "a tall bearded white man". It seems that Quetzalcoatl traveled with his own brotherhood of sages and magicians, and that they arrived in Mexico "from across the sea in a boat that moved by itself without paddles," and that Quetzalcoatl was regarded as having been "the founder of cities, the framer of laws and the teacher of the calendar."