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| Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Antique Mexican China Poblana Doll Altar installation at The Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture Mexico exhibition in Fort Collins. |
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| Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Antique Mexican China Poblana Doll Altar installation at The Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture, Fort Collins, Colorado |
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| Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Antique Mexican China Poblana Doll Altar installation at The Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture, Fort Collins, Colorado |
The MEXICO: Objects for Living, Objects for Life exhibition will be on display from October 3, 2014–January 24, 2015 at The Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture in Fort Collins. Laurie Beth Zuckerman's installation of antique Mexican China Poblana tourist dolls at this international folk art museum is representative of handmade costume dolls from the early to mid-1900s. Typical "mestizo campesino" munecas (dolls) were made by Mexican artisans as well as foreign makers and sold to tourists during the heyday of foreign tourism. These cloth and/or composition dolls displayed the most famous indigenous dresses of the predominant regions of Mexico. In the early 20th century, daughters of hacienda owners began to embroider colorful dresses for rodeo events, known as Charreadas. They called these dresses "China Poblanas." These dolls model these real-life costumes. I have collected these soulful dolls from flea markets for twenty-some years, as my altars provide a wonderful new home for these orphaned tourist dolls.
The legend of the China Poblana began around 1621. Spain had extended its provinces to the Orient with its base in Manila. Each year Spanish ships would bring treasures to Mexico. A young exotic Hindu princess from the Mughal Kingdom named Mirra was bought at the slave market in Manila. She had been taken prisoner by Portuguese pirates on the coast of India. She was then sold to a sea captain and his wife in Puebla by a fellow Spanish ship captain, and her name was changed to Catarina de San Juan after she was baptized. She wore a colorful silk sari across her face and became know as "La Chinita" or "the little Chinese girl." Catrina died in 1688 after living her life as a nun. Her tomb of the "China Poblana" is located in the Colegio de la Compania de Jesus church in Puebla, Mexico.
A good book for collectors to research more about China Poblana dolls is Mexican Popular Art: Clothing and Dolls, by Wendy Scalzo, available at Amazon books. Most of the dolls in my altar collection are represented in this beautiful colorful book. They range from the 1930s to the 1950s.
3 comments:
dearest,
outside of haiku my heart, i have taken a year off from social media to practice silence, to take time to look deeply within. suddenly it is october and i feel myself resurfacing. what better way to return to the world of blogging then to share the art of remembering. i hope you will join me in this deeply meaning time of acknowledging our loved ones. i miss you. xo
dear laurie,
the best way to honor your gorgeous shrine is to reprint your comment at recuerda mi corazon,
thank you for creating heart warming altars in museum settings that serve to honor and inspire.
"The morning my father died, I felt so utterly alone until a Monarch Butterfly came into my garden and lingered for awhile. I assumed it was Dad's spirit, and every year since on September 30, I wait for a Monarch to reappear. This year one did not come, and I felt despondent. Yesterday, after returning home from setting up a new altar exhibit in Boulder honoring my father's family, my husband cried out, "There's a Monarch at our rabbitbrush." Well worth the wait, Monarchs are easy to approach and to photograph. So wonderful, and so worth the yearly wait."
Rebecca's Remembrance and your Memory Jugs. What a perfect combination.
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