Arts And Crafts Of Mexico - Pottery And Weaving Part (Rev)

the village of amango in southern Mexico a zz Indian woman begins work on a water jar the zodz have been making Pottery in this way for hundreds of years for cooking and it will have Beauty too for it is important to the people of Mexico that things used in everyday life be pleasing though jars very much like this one have been found in Ruins dating back to times before Columbus discovered America this jar will have its own individuality it will be just the a little different than every other water jar in the world from Villages all over Mexico today come the handicrafts which have made this Mountain Country so famous as the land of arts and crafts into the markets of the towns and cities flow the products of a people who for centuries have been Craftsmen and who still keep alive the ancient handicraft because they are still useful and still beautiful since most of the people of Mexico are either Indian or Spanish or a mixture of the two their arts and crafts naturally reflect both Indian and Spanish influences each region of the country provides its own specialty baskets from one place sarapes from another one can usually tell where a piece of pottery comes from by its characteristic color and pattern the glowing black wear is made in the little village of coyotepe the seora Rosa is famed as the best Potter in the region e after forming the clay is allowed to dry slowly in the house where it is cool after several days a design is scratched on the surface now the pieces are ready for the Kiln where they will be fired in the ground at low temperatures for several more days it is part of the Potter's art to know how long and at what temperatures to fire the clay the pieces of broken pottery which cover the Kiln are taken away and the warm black wear is removed a little polishing and the work is finished blackwar is never painted or glazed the great amount of lead oxide found in the Clays of this region produced the Mellow Black Metallic tone very different from this pottery made according to ancient Indian methods and Designs is the brilliant talware made in the city of pbla since the 16th century by families like the aguilars descendants of Potters from the city of taliva in Spain who settled here soon after the Spanish conquest of Mexico taliva takes much longer to make than ordinary pottery and each step in the process is performed today almost exactly as it was 400 years ago talware is formed on a potter's wheel first introduced to Mexico by the Spanish it is made from a careful blend of three different kinds of clay all found near this city of pbla and very closely resembling those Clays found in taliva Spain talware expensive difficult to make and very Spanish is not at all like the pottery produced in the little village of tonala this Pottery has become perhaps the most typically Mexican many of the people who live in tonala of potters and the children grow in an atmosphere where pottery making is as natural is eating the designs are Indian and the same ones are used again and again there are almost as many different kinds of pottery made as there are pottery making Villages but pottery making is only one of the many arts and crafts of Mexico from the zapot Indians in the village of teotitlan come some of the finest saries woven from Pure wool some are used for bed covers some for rugs and villag men wear saries as cloaks the Garcia family earned their livelihood making sarapis all of the work from shearing the Sheep to the finished sarapi is done by the family the wool is first sorted and washed carding comes next to separate the fibers now to the spinning wheel wheel to transform the wool into yarn from the bobin the wool is wound into long Loops or schemes ready for dying the strong upright Loom on which the Sarape is woven was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards who also introduced wool itself until the coming of the Spanish conquerors there were no sheep in Mexico no wool no sarapes but the Indians soon learned the use of wool and began making sarapes of marvelous variety each tribe according to its own tastes the Roso the shawl which Mexican women wear was introduced by the Spanish and the art of making really fine rosos is encouraged by the government in special schools like this set up to help keep alive these Arts are so much a part of Mexican culture nowhere else in the world the village handycrafts flourish as they do in Mexico there can be many reasons why but most important the people of Mexico have always been Craftsmen and cfts are the custom and the people enjoy making useful and beautiful things for their hands