This small textile is a sample of traditional Maya weaving, possibly serving as a napkin or just as a sampler. Maya textiles are more typically created as large pieces of fabric, intended to be made into traditional clothing, that are hand-woven on a backstrap loom. This piece is striped in different colors of traditionally hand-dyed cotton, but because of global trade, today … [Read more...] about Maya Hand-Woven Textiles: Researched by Abigail Morrow
This large vessel was created by Reina Simon L. from the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, using the traditional grey clay of this region that is gathered from the clay mines near the community. While such pottery has been created and used for water vessels, or ollas, for centuries by the Zapotec people of this region, in the 1950s potter Rosa Real Mateo de Nieto started a new … [Read more...] about Zapotec Mestizo Blackware: Researched by Daniel Hume
Tepache vessels are known today as elaborately decorated ceramic vessels produced for the tourist trade by the potters of San José de Gracia, a village in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The vessels were first created by the potter Elisa Madrigal Martínez, who began making them in the 1930s after she had moved from Carapan to San José de Gracia; up until that time, the potters … [Read more...] about Tepache Vessel with Three Calla Lilies on Lid: Researched by Sarah Teel
Amate paper is a traditional form of bark paper that is believed to have been developed by the Maya during the Mesoamerican Classic period (250-900 CE). The making of amate paper is labor-intensive, and the ancient Mesoamericans likewise highly valued amate and even gave paper as tribute and as offerings to the gods. The paper was also made into ritual garments and into … [Read more...] about Amate Paper Wall Decoration: Researched by Josh Barry
Mexican Talavera pottery has a long history that dates back to the early 15th century, soon after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. When the Spanish first conquered the Puebla region, they introduced new pottery techniques from the city of Talavera de la Reina in Spain to this pottery-making area. The Mexican city of Puebla was established in 1531and placed strategically between … [Read more...] about Talavera Pottery: Researched by Shayna MacDonald