Blog Post #5/6

TITLE: Miniature Versions of Mexican Kitchen Items
ARTIST(S): Mostly unknown, except for the palm woven fan,which was made by Nemesio Aguirre 
DATE: Unknown
LOCATION: Mexico
MEDIUM: Clay, Stone, wood, Jícaro fruit, palm, and Metal
SOURCE: Mexico

I selected these items because i believe they wouldn't be found in a museum,mostly because they are miniature replicas of  the ones that are used. But also,they hold cultural, aesthetic, and personal value. These represent what would be found in traditional Mexican households. Granted neither I nor my family dress in traditional Mexican clothes but other than that my grandmother and mother's house is pretty traditional. So I've interacted with all of the life size versions of these,for example the grinder (molinillo) is the long wooden wish used to stir and create froth in hot beverages by holding it in between your palms and rubbing the palms together to get it to rotate. There can also be seen a rectangular looking stone with a cylindrical stone right beneath it at the right of these pictures that are referred as a milling stone and hand held stone (metate and mano) which is used to grind things such as corn mostly. Also there is a mini version of a  stone mortar and pestle (molcajete and tejolote) also used to grind spices but in our case, mostly salsa making. Another,older version of a mortar can be seen to the left of the stone one and it is made out of clay. There is also a metal tortilla press (tortillera) which as the name suggests helps make tortillas. And lastly the remaining clay items are a pot and a casserole (cazuela). The reason i decided to add the mexican spanish names of these is because that is also what helps show the culture behind these better,since many other places have things similar to these but are named differently. The way these items can hold aesthetic value is better shown in the jícara and the pitcher because of the designs. These also hold personal value because they were gifted to me,for example the jícara, which is the red bowl, was from my grandmother and the hand woven palm fan was made by my mom's uncle,Nemesio. And the rest were brought from Mexico by my mom years ago. What I believe is important for the viewers to know is that even though these seem very cute and simple trinkets or souvenirs for outsiders,they are actually filled with history and purpose and maybe even sentimental value if they are hand made and gifted. And that these would not be found in the museum since they are seen as recent and not from decades or centuries ago. But that they hold as much value and cultural value as other forms of art