Type of sculpture made with melted sugar. It is confined to Mexico, and its origins are uncertain, although it seems likely that it developed in imitation of the Pre-Columbian custom of creating images with tzoalli dough (a Náhuatl term for maize and amaranth seeds kneaded with honey), as described in detail by 16th-century Spanish chroniclers. The latter tradition has survived to the late 20th century alongside sugar sculpture. Aztec deity images were made of clay, stone, wood or tzoalli dough, and less frequently of gold, silver or jade. The last three, more expensive materials, were used for temple images, but tzoalli images were also ‘sacred’, in that pieces were broken off and eaten, perhaps as if they represented the flesh of the gods. The 16th-century chronicler Diego Durán described how birds were made with such dough, with wings, feathers and other details attached to them and painted, techniques also used by modern sugar sculptors.

• sculpture... (cont.)
  • historical and regional traditions... (cont.)
    • Bactria... (cont.)
      • Central Asia, §I, 3(ii)(a): Western: Sculpture in Bactria, 1st century B–4th century A
      • Dissemination, §1(i)(a): Examples and problems: Classical sculpture
      • Iran, ancient, §III, 2: Sculpture, 3000–1000 BC
    • Baga
      • Guinea
    • Bahamas, the
      • Bahamas, the, §IV: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
    • Bali (Indonesia)
      • Indonesia, §IV, 1: Sculpture: Introduction
      • Indonesia, §IV, 3: Sculpture in Bali
      • Indonesia, §IV, 3(ii): Sculpture in Bali, after 1343
    • Bamana
      • Bamana, §1: Introduction
      • Bamana, §2: Figure sculpture
    • Bangladesh
      • Indian subcontinent, §V, 7(v)(a): Sculpture, 7th–18th centuries: Bihar and Bengal
    • Belarus'
      • Belarus’, §III: Sculpture
    • Belgium
      • Belgium, §IV, 1: Sculpture, before c 1400
      • Belgium, §IV: Sculpture
      • Belgium, §IV, 2: Sculpture, c 1400–c 1550
      • Belgium, §IV, 4: Sculpture, 1830–c 1900
      • Belgium, §IV, 5: Sculpture, after c 1900
      • Gothic
        • Gothic, §III, 1(v): Stone sculpture in the Low Countries
        • Gothic, §III, 2(ii): Wood sculpture in the Low Countries
        • Gothic, §III, 2(d): Wood sculpture in the Low Countries, 1430–1530
      • Gothic: Late Gothic
        • Delemer, Jean
      • Romanesque
        • Romanesque, §III, 1(viii): Stone sculpture: Low Countries
        • Romanesque, §III, 2(v): Wood sculpture: Low Countries
      • Surrealism
        • Magritte, René, §1(iv): World War II to the 1960s
      • 20th cent.
        • Broodthaers, Marcel
        • Stijl, De
    • Belize
      • Belize, §3: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
    • Bembe
      • Bembe, §1: Figure sculpture
      • Bembe, §2: Reliquary figures
    • Benedictine Order
      • Slovenia, §IV: Sculpture
    • Benin, Kingdom of
      • Benin, §4: Concepts of art
      • Benin, §5: Historiography
    • Benin Republic
      • Fon, §1: Royal arts
    • Bhutan
      • Bhutan, §III: Sculpture
    • Bijogo
      • Bijogo, §3: Religious sculpture
    • Black Sea Colonies
      • Black Sea colonies, §1: Northern
      • Black Sea colonies, §2: Western and southern
    • Bolivia
      • Bolivia, §IV: Sculpture
    • Bon (religion)
      • Tibet, §III, 1(i): Sculpture: Chronology
    • Bosnia
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina, §II: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
    • Brazil
      • Brazil, §V, 1: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, before c 1822
      • Brazil, §V: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
      • Brazil, §V, 2(i): Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, c 1822–88
      • Brazil, §V, 2(ii): Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, 1889–1930
      • Brazil, §V, 2(iii): Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, 1931–60
      • Brazil, §V, 2(iv): Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, after 1960
      • Pre-Columbian
        • South America, Pre-Columbian, §VI, 2: East Brazilian area: Sambaquí cultures
      • wood
        • Brazil, §III: Afro-American culture
    • Britain
      • Artificial stone, §2: Uses
      • Indian subcontinent, §V, 8(ii): Sculpture, 19th century–1947: European works and influences
      • Romanesque, §III, 1(v)(a): Stone sculpture in the British Isles: Introduction
      • Romanesque, §III, 1(v): Stone sculpture: British Isles
    • Buddhism
      • Japan, §V, 7: Sculpture: Conservation
      • Lacquer, §I, 1(ii)(f): Urushi techniques: Dry
      • Burma
        • Burma, §IV, 2(i): Sculpture, 9th–13th centuries: Temple decoration
        • Burma, §IV, 2(ii): Sculpture, 9th–13th centuries: Statuary
        • Burma, §IV, 3: Sculpture, 13th–20th centuries
        • Lacquer, §I, 1(ii)(e): Urushi techniques: Painted
      • Cambodia
        • Buddhism, §III, 3(iii): South-east Asia: Architecture and sculpture
        • Cambodia, §I, 3(iii): Religion, iconography and subject-matter: Buddhism
        • Cambodia, §III, 1: Sculpture: pre-Angkor period
        • Cambodia, §III, 2(iii): Sculpture: Early Angkor period
        • Cambodia, §III, 3(iii)(a): Sculpture: Middle Angkor period
        • Cambodia, §III, 4: Sculpture, Bayon style
        • Cambodia, §III, 5: Sculpture, after c 1220
        • Cambodia, §III, 5(ii): Sculpture, 17th–19th centuries
      • Central Asia, Eastern
        • Central Asia, §II, 1(vii): Eastern: Concept and status of art
        • Central Asia, §II, 3: Eastern: Sculpture
        • Central Asia, §II, 3(ii)(b): Eastern: Sculpture in the North
        • Stucco and plasterwork, §III, 5(ii): Eastern Central Asia
      • Central Asia, Western
        • Central Asia, §I, 1(v)(b): Western: Buddhist religion and iconography
        • Central Asia, §I, 3(iii)(b): Western: Sculpture in Tokharistan, 4th century AD–early 8th
      • Champa
        • Champa, §III, 1: Sculpture, before c AD 760
        • Champa, §III, 2: Sculpture, c AD 760–the late 9th century
        • Champa, §III, 3: Sculpture, late 9th century AD–the early 10th: Dong Duong style
        • Dong Duong
      • China
        • China, §III, 1: Buddhist sculpture
        • China, §III, 2: Daoist sculpture
        • China, §VI, 3: Bronzes: Historical development
        • China, §XIII, 6: Cloisonné
        • China, §XIII, 14(i)(b): Iron and steel: Six Dynasties to Qing
        • China, §XXI: Historiography
        • Longmen
      • China: Han period (206 BC-AD 220)
        • Gilding, §II, 2: Uses: Sculpture
      • China: Lamaism
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(i): Buddhist sculpture: Qing and after
        • Temple, §IV, 1(i): China: Rock-cut
      • China: Liao period (907-1125)
        • Buddhism, §III, 8(iv): China: Five Dynasties period to Xixia kingdom
      • China: Ming period (1368-1644)
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(f): Buddhist sculpture: Song
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(h): Buddhist sculpture: Ming
      • China: Northern and Southern Dynasties (AD 310-589)
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Northern and Southern Dynasties
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Northern and Southern Dynasties
        • Gong xian
      • China: Northern Zhou period (AD 557-81)
        • Northern Zhou dynasty
      • China: Sui period (AD 581-618)
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Sui
      • China: Tang period (AD 618-907)
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(d): Buddhist sculpture: Tang
        • China, §IX, 3: Lacquer: Tang
      • China: Tantric
        • China, §III, 1(ii)(g): Buddhist sculpture: Jin to Yuan
      • Indian subcontinent
        • Erotic art, §I, 3(i): India
        • Indian subcontinent, §II, 2(ii): Buddhist iconography and subject-matter: Bodhisattvas
        • Indian subcontinent, §II, 2(iv): Buddhist iconography and subject-matter: The Goddess
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 1(iv): Sculpture: Stylistic overview
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 4(i)(a): Sculpture, 2nd–1st centuries BC: North
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 4(ii)(d): Sculpture, 2nd–1st centuries BC: Central
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 5(i)(a): Religious sculpture, 1st–3rd centuries A: North
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 5(ii)(b): Sculpture, 1st–3rd centuries AD: North-west
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 5(iii)(b): Sculpture, 1st–3rd centuries A: West
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 5(vi): Sculpture, 1st–3rd centuries AD: South
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(i)(c): Sculpture, c 430–460 AD: North
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(i)(d): Sculpture, c 460–500 AD: North
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(i)(e): Sculpture, c 500–550 AD: North
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(iii)(b): Sculpture, 4th–6th centuries AD: Gujarat
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(iv)(b): Sculpture, 4th–6th centuries A: High phase in central India
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 6(vi): Sculpture, 4th–6th centuries AD: South
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 7(v)(a): Sculpture, 7th–18th centuries: Bihar and Bengal
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 7(v)(a): Sculpture, 7th–18th centuries: Bihar and Bengal
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 7(vi)(b): Sculpture, 7th–9th centuries: Kerala
        • Indian subcontinent, §V, 7(vi)(c): Sculpture, 7th–18th centuries: Karnataka
        • Kausambi
        • Mathura, §2: Kushana period
        • Tabo
      • Indonesia
        • Indonesia, §IV, 2(i)(a): Hindu–Buddhist sculpture in Java: Early Classical period
        • Indonesia, §IV, 2(i)(b): Hindu–Buddhist sculpture in Java: Late Classical period
      • Japan
        • Buddhism, §III, 10(v): Japan: Development after 1600
        • Japan, §V, 1(ii)(b): Sculptural materials and techniques: Wood
        • Japan, §V, 3(i): Buddhist sculpture: Asuka–Hakuho periods
        • Japan, §V, 3: Buddhist sculpture
        • Japan, §V, 3(ii)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Nara period, 710–43
        • Japan, §V, 3(v): Buddhist sculpture: Muromachi, Momoyama and Edo periods
        • Japan, §V, 5: Portrait sculpture
        • Japan, §XII, 2(ii): Metalwork: Asuka–Hakuho and Nara periods
        • Tori Busshi
      • Japan: Asuka-Hakuho period (c. 552-710)
        • Japan, §XVI, 7(ii)(a): Dress, before AD 794
      • Japan: Asuka period (AD C. 552-645)
        • Japan, §II, 3(ii): Buddhism: Buddhas, bodhisattvas and symbolic gestures
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Asuka period
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Asuka period
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Asuka period
      • Japan: Esoteric
        • Japan, §V, 3(iii)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Early Heian period
      • Japan: Hakuho period (AD 645-710)
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Hakuho period
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Hakuho period
        • Japan, §V, 3(i)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Hakuho period
      • Japan: Heian period (AD 794-1185)
        • Japan, §V, 3(iii): Buddhist sculpture: Heian period
        • Japan, §V, 3(iii)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Early Heian period
        • Japan, §V, 3(iii)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Late Heian period
      • Japan: Kamakura period (1185-1333)
        • Japan, §V, 3(iv): Buddhist sculpture: Kamakura period
        • Japan, §V, 3(iv)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Early Kamakura period
        • Japan, §V, 3(iv)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Middle Kamakura period
      • Japan: Nara period (AD 710-94)
        • Japan, §V, 3(ii): Buddhist sculpture: Nara period
        • Japan, §V, 3(ii)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Nara period, 743–57
        • Japan, §V, 3(ii)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Nara period, 757–94
        • Japan, §X, 2(ii): Lacquer: Early historic period
      • Khmer
        • Champa, §III, 5: Sculpture, early 11th century–the early 14th
        • Thailand, §IV, 3: Sculpture: Khmer–Lopburi, 7th–14th centuries
      • Korea
        • Korea, §III, 1: Buddhist sculpture
        • Korea, §III, 1(i): Buddhist sculpture: Three Kingdoms, 57 BC–AD 668
        • Korea, §III, 1(ii): Buddhist sculpture: Unified Silla, AD 668–918
        • Korea, §III, 1(iii): Buudhist sculpture: Koryo, AD 918–1392
        • Korea, §III, 1(iv): Buddhist sculpture: Choson, 1392–1910
      • Korea: 6th cent.
        • Korea, §III, 1(i)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Three Kingdoms, 4th century AD–c 550
      • Korea: 7th cent.
        • Buddhism, §III, 9(i): Korea, before AD 668
        • Korea, §III, 1(i)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Three Kingdoms, 57 BC–AD 668: Introduction
        • Korea, §III, 1(i)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Three Kingdoms, c AD 550–c 668
      • Korea: 8th cent.
        • Korea, §III, 1(ii)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Unified Silla, AD 668–918: Middle period
      • Korea: 9th cent.
        • Korea, §III, 1(ii)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Unified Silla, AD 668–918: Late period
      • Korea: 10th cent.
        • Korea, §III, 1(iii)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Koryo, 918–1392
      • Korea: 14th cent.
        • Korea, §III, 1(iii)(b): Buddhist sculpture: Koryo, 918–1392
      • Laos
        • Laos, §I, 3: Religion, iconography and subject-matter
        • Laos, §III, 2(i): Free-standing sculpture, 1353 and after
      • Malaysia
        • Malaysia, §IV, 1: Sculpture: Hindu–Buddhist
      • Nara period (AD 710-94)
        • Japan, §V, 5(i): Portrait sculpture: Introduction
      • Nepal
        • Nepal, §II: Art of the prehistoric and protohistoric periods
        • Nepal, §IV, 1(ii): Sculpture, before c AD 800: Metal
        • Nepal, §IV, 2(i): Sculpture in the Transitional period, c 800–c 1200: Stone
        • Nepal, §IV, 2(ii): Sculpture in the Transitional period, c 800–c 1200: Metal
        • Nepal, §IV, 4: Sculpture, after 1769
      • South-east Asia
        • South-east Asia, §I, 3: Early Indian and Chinese influences
      • Sri Lanka
        • Sri Lanka, §IV, 1: Sculpture: Early Anuradhapura period, c 3rd century BC–early 7th century AD
        • Sri Lanka, §IV, 4: Sculpture: Kandyan period and other minor kingdoms, 13th century–1815
        • Sri Lanka, §IV, 5: Sculpture: Colonial and modern periods
        • Sri Lanka, §VII, 2: Collections of art outside Sri Lanka
      • Thailand
        • Sukhothai, §2: Principal monuments
        • Thailand, §I, 3: Religion, iconography and subject-matter
        • Thailand, §IV, 1(i): Sculpture: Dvaravati, 7th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 1(i): Sculpture: Dvaravati, 7th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 1(ii): Sculpture: Dvaravati, 7th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 2(i): Sculpture: Srivijaya, 8th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 2: Sculpture: Srivijaya, 8th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 2(ii): Sculpture: Srivijaya, 8th–13th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 4(i): Sculpture: Sukhothai, 13th–15th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 4(ii): Sculpture: Sukhothai, 13th–15th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 5: Sculpture: Lanna, 11th–18th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 6: Sculpture: Ayutthaya, 14th–18th centuries
        • Thailand, §IV, 7: Sculpture: Ratanakosin, after 1782
      • Tibet
        • Tashilhunpo
        • Tibet, §I, 5: Concept of art
        • Tibet, §III, 2: Sculpture: Western
        • Tibet, §III, 3: Sculpture: Central
        • Tibet, §III, 4: Sculpture: Eastern
      • Vietnam
        • Vietnam, §III, 1(i): Religious and formal sculpture, before 1428
        • Vietnam, §III, 1: Religious and formal sculpture
        • Vietnam, §III, 1(ii): Religious and formal sculpture, 1428–1802
    • Bulgaria
      • Bulgaria, §IV, 2: Sculpture, 1393–1878
      • Bulgaria, §IV: Sculpture
    • Burma
      • Burma, §IV, 1: Sculpture, 3rd–9th centuries AD
      • Burma, §IV: Sculpture
      • Burma, §IV, 2: Sculpture, 9th–13th centuries
    • Byzantine
      • Early Christian and Byzantine art, §IV: Sculpture
      • Early Christian and Byzantine art, §IV, 2: Stone sculpture