You have met my friend Irma several times on this blog, most recently when Alejandro and I took a weekend trip to see her while she was visiting her hometown of Jalapa. Irma returned to Ohio before I did, and last night I paid her a visit at her apartment just a five-minute drive from my house.
I have also mentioned in the past that she collects Nativity scenes, and that whenever I am in Mexico, I look for something different that she does not have in her collection. On my latest trip I found this small item made of hand-painted pottery in one of the handicraft markets in Mexico City. It comes from Yucatán.
One side is a rather rotund Mexican woman. I wonder if the face with the unibrow and slight moustache is inspired by Frida Kahlo, although Frida was always very slender.
When you turn the piece around, the hollow of the pottery contains a miniature Nativity scene with Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, a donkey and a cow.
It is another fine example of the miniature work for which Mexican artisans are famous. Irma did not have anything similar in her collection, and she was very happy with her gift.
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