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metal
This craft is divided into three categories:
Metalwork: Working with common metals such as
copper, wrought iron, tin, and lead.
Goldsmithing and Silversmithing: Working with
precious metals, mainly gold and silver. Guadalajara,
Puebla, Taxco, and Mexico City are major centers
of production.
Jewelry Making: Using gold, silver, and precious stones
to make personal adornment accessories. Examples of
this work are made in Mexico City, Taxco, Oaxaca,
Yucatán, Chiapas, and Michoacán.
metalwork
Copper: Copper has been processed in the city of Santa
Clara del Cobre in Michoacán since 1553. This is the
only place in Mexico where all articles are hammered
from a single piece or tejo, with no welding involved.
Red-hot metal is hammered to allow the material to
be stretched. This process may require up to ten men
working simultaneously. Later, a master finisher
completes the piece.
Wrought Iron: Initially, Mestizo and Indian ironworkers
used Spanish techniques and aesthetics to create wrought
iron as an architectural component. Today, steel tools are
used to produce crosses, objects for charreria (Mexican
rodeo and horsemanship equipment, such as spurs),
and hardware for doors and gates. Puebla, Oaxaca,
Zacatecas, Guerrero, and Chiapas are important centers
of production.
The crosses shown in this exhibit were made by placing
iron in a fire and then hammering it over an anvil to
shape the material while hot. Decorations, such as the
sun, scales, and chalice, were added later.
Tin: In Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Puebla, Taxco, and
Pátzcuaro, artists use tin to make lanterns, candlesticks,
candelabra adorned with flowers and foliage, frames
for glass boxes, mirror frames, and rooster and butterfly
figures. The process involves drawing a pattern on a
sheet of tin, then cutting it out with long scissors. The
colored finish is achieved by using paints and shellac.
Lead: Artists in Mexico City, Puebla, and Celaya use
lead to create toy soldiers, cannons, horses, miniature
items for dollhouses, and figures that portray Mexico’s
ethnic and cultural groups.
goldsmithing, silversmithing, and jewelry making
Gold: Filigree is perhaps the most exquisite product of
goldsmithing. To make filigree, the gold has to be melted
to the correct thickness to produce “threads.” Thicker
threads are used to form the frame, while thinner threads
are used to make designs. The threads are reheated over
and over so that they remain flexible while the piece is
being worked.
Gold is also used for making rings, bracelets, earrings,
and chains, and can be combined with precious and
semiprecious stones.
Silver: Silver is used for making large items, such as
centerpieces, as well as jewelry, including Mazahua
earrings and Yalalag crosses from Oaxaca. Mexico
City, Taxco, and the Mazahua communities of the State
of Mexico are major centers of silverwork production.
Like gold, silver can be filigreed, but other techniques
can also be used to shape silver. These include the old
practice of lost wax (used by ancient artists), lamination,
embossing, and engraving. Hammering is used to
produce vases, fruit bowls, tea sets, and trays. Files
and gouges are used with acid to create a fine finish.