Handcrafts and folk art in Michoacán
Its origins traced back to the Purépecha Empire, and later to the efforts to organize and promote trades and crafts by Vasco de Quiroga in what is now the north and northeast of the state.
A number are more particular to the state, such as the creation of religious images from corn stalk paste, and a type of mosaic made from dyed wheat straw on a waxed board.
Though there is support for artisans in the way of contests, fairs, and collective trademarks for certain wares (to protect against imitations), Michoacán handcrafts lack access to markets, especially those catering to tourists.
Pre Hispanic centers of production included Cojumatlán, Zinapécuaro, Apatzingán, Tepalcatepec, Huetamo, Morelia and Cuitzeo as well as the coast and along the Balsas River .
Goods such as caps, blankets, clothing, headdresses and ornamental staffs adorned with feathers were used only by priests and rulers as symbols of power and dignity.
The richest fabric had feathers or rabbit fur woven into the cotton, and pure white cloth was an easily traded commodity, used as a form of currency.
Other important pre Hispanic ceramic areas include Zamora, Cojumatlán, Zanapécuaro, Apatzingán, Tepalcatepec, along the Balsas River, Huetamo, Morelia and Cuitzeo.
The city of Patzcuaro proper is known for a number such as ceramics and fine furniture, but it is also a regional economic center with many markets selling area handcrafts.
[11] One best known Lake Patzcuaro artisan community is Santa Clara del Cobre, where 82% of the population is employed in the making of hand hammered copper items.
This craft began after Joaquin Muñoz Orta returned from the United States, where he became familiar with the tradition of using glass balls to decorate trees.
They began creating them in Mexico City but returned to his hometown to continue in 1964, where his business grew to make millions of the balls each year, exporting most.
[2][6][8] Noted pottery centers include Capula, Patamban, Cucuchucho, Santa Fe de la Laguna, Ocumicho, Uruapan, Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro.
The most common object made with this technique is the water jug, and the best known communities for this work are Tzintzuntzan, Pataban, Zinapécuaro, Cocucho, Huáncito and Ichán.
Other notable communities include Tzintzuntzan for its pots and cazuelas, Santa Fe de la Laguna for its black incense burners and candle holders decorated with small pieces of clay along with Zinapécuaro, Santo Tomás and Huáncito, which all make drip glazed wares.
[17] The most famous modern metalwork of the state is the hammered copper of Santa Clara del Cobre, founded in 1530 as a smelter for the nuns of the order of Saint Claire.
The foundry is gone but the work in the metal continues, with the making of copper tubs, vats, ladles, trays, sinks, basins, kegs, vases, pots, plates, jars, jewelry and more.
[2][9] The wood varies greatly and includes fir, palo escrito, rosewood, pine, cirimo, mahogany, white cedar, tepamo, tecote, walnut, granadillo and galeana.
[2][3][9] The wood is sculpted and carved into figures, toys, cooking implements, decorations and masks, as well as turned into lumber for furniture, and finer pieces for the making of musical instruments.
The use of masks dates back to the pre Hispanic era and today are used for dances such as Moors and Christians, the Devils, the Little Blacks, Los Viejitos, the Ranchers, the Hermits the Maringuias (men in women's dress) and Cúrpites (which means “eat together”).
All weaving was done on back strap looms, and the relatively narrow cloth stitched together when wider pieces were need to items such as huipils and blankets.
[40] Sheep are generally shorn twice a year, spring and fall, with the wool obtained in each season requiring different handling because of the types of impurities found.
[42] Cotton is spun and woven mostly to create clothing and linens—including dresses, shirts, blouses, jackets, tablecloths, table runners, napkins, and bedspreads.
These textiles tend to be the most traditional, as they are made for self-consumption, with the pieces created from the growing of the cotton to weaving the cloth to sewing and embroidering the garment.
[43] The finest woven products of both wool and cotton are made in Patzcuaro, Uruapan and Zamora, producing rebozos, other traditional clothing, and linens.
Heavy jackets are made in Pichátaro, Santa Clara del Cobre, Cherán, Comachúen, Macho de Agua, Nahuatzen, Sevina and Charapan.
[2] Ixtle (maguey) fiber is still worked to create utilitarian items such as knapsacks and carrying bags, which in Santa Cruz Tanaco and Tarecuato are generally undyed.
[2][41] Most of this work is done by women, who twist, weave and glue the fibers together to create various kinds of items,[41] in town such as Ario de Rosales, Patzcuaro, Erongarícuaro, Quiroga and Tzintzuntzan.
It is the bundling of inner corn stalk along with the making of a paste from the same material, which is then sculpted to the desired image, which when finished, is as smooth as one made of ceramic, but considerably lighter.
[17][49] This manner of using wheat straw has roots in the pre-Hispanic period, when different materials where arranged with the same technique, but the current version, generally done to create religious images and landscapes has been popular since the 1960s.
[2][48] There are two kinds of lacquer, laca, using more modern chemicals and maque, a pre Hispanic method using a wax derived from the female insect coccus axin found in the Tierra Caliente, as well as chia, chicalote or more recently linseed oils.
