My Purchases

Here are some of things that I brought home from the Festival of Indigenous Cultures for myself or as gifts to give to friends.

As you may recall, I frequently send dolls to the daughters of a friend in the United States.  I purchased this doll which comes from the town of Amealco in the state of Querétaro.

The girls already have dolls from Amealco, but I bought this one because I liked his smiling face and the lovely, embroidered panel on his shirt.

The son of another friend has just started college last year, and he plans to become a veterinarian.  I thought that he would like this t-shirt with a graphic of an "axolotl".

The "axolotl" is an endangered, salamander-like animal that lives in the few remaining canals in Mexico City.

If you have read this blog for a while, you know that I am a sucker for handicrafts, especially Mexican handicrafts.  I bought this small piece of pottery for myself.

The piece was made in the state of Chihuahua, and is based on the designs of the pre-Hispanic culture of Paquimé.  The designs were cut into the pottery with a knife.  I have two other similar pieces that are even smaller.  I assume now that they are also from Chihuahua.  This recent buy looks nice on the shelf with the other two.

You also may remember that I collect figures of jaguars, and that I have a collection of jaguar heads on the wall.  I found two more to add to my collection.

This one is from Oaxaca.  It is carved from copal wood and intricately painted in the style of the "alebrijes" from that state.

This one is from the town of San Bartolo Coyotepec in Oaxaca.  The town is famous for its black pottery, but this is the first time I had seen pieces in two colors.

I asked the artisan if two different kinds of clay are used to create these bi-colored pieces.  He said, "No".  The different colors are achieved by the way that the clay is prepared.  This piece will make an interesting addition to my collection.