Home

I love Mexican folk art — all of it. I love the feeling of owning something someone has taken his or her lifetime to learn how to make and the feeling of having a piece of art unlike any other in the world. Mexican folk art also comes in all shapes and sizes — from the giant pots of Cocucho to tiny miniatures duplicating their life-sized counterparts.

Throughout history, people have been fascinated by miniatures and have made tiny replicas of full-scale objects for many different purposes. The ancient Greeks constructed models of temples before building them. In the 18th century, dolls meticulously dressed in the latest European fashions were shipped to the New World so that colonial ladies could keep up with the latest fashion. And in Mexico, you can find just about any life-sized item reproduced in miniature.

In the most general sense, a "miniature" is an imitation in a smaller size of some original. For centuries, the campesinos (peasants) could not afford to buy toys for their children. Whatever the profession of the father, became fodder for a miniature replica, made to be used as toys for the children. Woodworkers made miniature furniture, basket weavers made miniature baskets, potters made tiny tasas (cups) and other kitchenware.

The first dollhouse “on record” was commissioned by Albrecht V., Duke of Bavaria in 1558 for his young daughter. However, Mexican children were making miniature haciendas or replicas of their homes long before this. What fun to play with tiny objects that represented the world around them — people, animals, birds, furniture, and all the necessities of daily life. Miniatures have served to record the history of Mexico just as its life-sized art has.

Much of Mexico’s history is not written in pen and ink but rather in its songs and art. More than any other country, Mexico’s abundance of creative artisans has left us an historical record through its art and tiny objects. Although dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, today the dollhouse industry is huge and includes adults fascinated by the detailed reproduction of life in miniature.

I became intrigued myself, years ago, after visiting a gallery in Cambria, California. An artist had made a “perfect” miniature rendition of a Mexican hacienda — it was fabulous! I decided to build my own hacienda. Using Styrofoam, I easily carved the walls and shaped the arches that led from room to room. They were glued together with white glue on to a base of wood. I built a staircase up to the mirador (upper level) and made tiny terracotta tiles for the floors using sculpting clay. To make the adobe-type walls, I used Spackle. I painted the walls bright, cheerful colors and carefully added designs around the door arches just as I had seen in books about Mexican haciendas. I can’t remember exactly how long it took to complete my hacienda, but when it was done, the real fun began — decorating it.

My love for Mexican miniatures had been on going for the many years I had traveled throughout Mexico. I had already collected tiny replicas of the most amazing things – a saddle so detailed it had tooling and the old-style stirrups of the charro saddles and it even had a lariat tied with tiny leather thongs to its side. I remember purchasing tiny ceramic sets of dishes painted with brilliant designs and miniature equipales that I would use on my terrazza.

On one of my trips to Tonalá over 25 years ago, I had found miniature wrought iron for the windows. I took great pains with the details in my hacienda, everything was authentic, and what I couldn’t find, I made. It is difficult, if not impossible, to find many of these wonderful dollhouse miniatures in Mexico today.

Quality has eroded over time, and many artists no longer make tiny replicas of their work because they can go to Wal-Mart and purchase plastic toys for their children. Most difficult to find is furniture and other household objects made of wood. However, there are still marvelous dollhouse miniatures to be found in Mexico if you look in the right places, and each piece is unique and handcrafted.

Still intrigued by miniatures and wishing to keep this craft alive, I began to sell Mexican dollhouse miniatures on the Internet (www.mexicoetc.com). If you decide to undertake a mini-building project, I can offer miniature food, dishes and utensils, pottery, saddles and tiny leather cowboy boots, hammered copper pots and just about anything you would need for your own Mexican hacienda. Or better yet, watch for these tiny treasures on your own travels in Mexico.

As A. C. Benson once said, “There is great beauty in smallness." (British essayist, poet and author and son of a late 19th century Archbishop of Canterbury.) The “mini” is mighty!

For information on Feria Maestros del Arte, contact Marianne Carlson (376) 765-7485 or email mariannecarlson@gmail.com.

Home