Handcrafts and folk art in Tlaxcala
Its best-known wares are the "canes of Apizaco" (really from San Esteban Tizatlan), sawdust carpets and the making of Saltillo-style serapes.
However, there are other handcraft traditions, such as the making of pottery, including Talavera type wares, cartoneria, metalworking and stone working.
[1] A significant portion of the state's handcraft production is done in small villages, and in indigenous communities such as Ixtenco, San Isidro Buensuceso and Tetlahnocan.
Its permanent collection is in six halls and includes a Child Jesus of ayacahuite wood, with glass eyes and movable limbs; various articles for the making of pulque, Otomi traditional garb, pottery and musical instruments called salterios.
[1] Characteristic of these canes is the carving, which is complemented by different colors of wood and varnish and sometimes burning to add decorative motifs, which are often of pre Hispanic origin.
[1] In addition to the canes, the town makes wooden bats, decorated in a similar fashion,[1] and items of cedar and ayacahuite such as toys, chess sets, letter openers, furniture and religious figures for altars.
[3] In San Pablo Apetatitlán, there is a neighborhood called Tlatempa, noted for the making of religious figures from ayacahuite, with glass eyes and movable extremities.
These textiles had complicated designs and were dyed in various colors using resources such as cochineal and a purple dye made from snails from Oaxaca.
These wares include serapes, rebozos, sweaters of a design called Chiconcuac, jackets, capes, gloves and hats made of wool.
[3] One notable artisan from just outside Santa Ana Chiautempan is Guadalupe Ixcotla, who specializes not in weaving, but in the creation of hand-knitted tapestries, made on vertical frames.
[3][11] San Juan Ixtenco is noted for its pepenado embroidery, which consists of fine points arranged to form figures, especially on blouses.
Its origins are from the pre Hispanic period, and the best-known creation of this craft in the state is in the city of Huamantla, for the feast of the image of Our Lady of Charity (Virgen de la Caridad).
It is a simple, red-colored pottery which comes burnished and unburnished to make duck figures, water jugs and containers for other liquids using neither molds or potters' wheels.
[1][3][13] San Salvador Tzompantepec is noted for making comals, cooking pots, including those decorated with incisions in the surface, flowerpots, piñatas and more.
[13] La Trinidad Tenexyecac is known for its glazed wares, making various types of cooking pots and pitchers, which sizes ranging from miniatures to very large pieces.
[13] San Pablo del Monte is known for its Talavera ceramics, making dishes, cups, tiles, large storage vessels called tibors, vases, flowerpots, ashtrays and more.
Other communities which do similar work include Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, Tetla, Totolac and San Martin Xaltocan.
San Martin Xaltocan specializes in gray, pink and green sandstone to make fountains, columns, table bases, large pots, monuments and more.
[1][3] In El Carmen Tequexquitla and San Pablo del Monte they make images from popotillo, along with objects made of palm fronds and chairs with wicker seats.
The jewelry can be accented with quartz, amethyst, coral and other semi-precious stones, with motifs such as crosses, birds, keys and fruit.
San Gabriel Popocatla, Tlatempan and Ixtlacuixtla make cartoneria into alebrijes, piñatas, masks, flowers, religious and secular figures.
