page_title: Handcrafts and folk art in Puebla
section_title: Amate
hierarchical_section_title: Handcrafts and folk art in Puebla / Amate
caption_attribution_description: English: Example of amate paper work at the Gallery Museum in San Pablito, Pahuatlan, Puebla, Mexico
context_page_description: Puebla handcrafts and folk art is handcraft and folk art from the Mexican state of Puebla. The best-known craft of Puebla is Talavera pottery—which is the only mayolica style pottery continuously produced in Mexico since it was introduced in the early colonial period. Other notable handcraft traditions include trees of life from Izúcar de Matamoros and amate paper made by the very small town of San Pablito in the north of the state. The state also makes glass, Christmas tree ornaments, indigenous textiles, monumental clocks, baskets, and apple cider.
context_section_description: Amate paper is made in the small village of San Pablito, Pahuatlan in the Sierra Norte de Puebla. The paper dates from the pre Hispanic era, when the Aztecs used it for codices and ritual use. The making of the paper survived in this remote area for ritual purposes, making cut-out figures. The most important traditional use for this paper was the making of cut-out figures for religious and magical ceremonies. Today, most is made for sale to other indigenous artisans who use it to paint images in Amayaltepec, San Agustin de las Flores, and various communities in the state of Guerrero. The town has less than five thousand inhabitants but is the main amate paper producer in the country. It is made in family workshops, where the bark fiber is pounded daily.
  The chemicals used in making the paper is causing environmental problems, such as pollution in the nearby Cazones River. It has caused a depletion of the trees needed to provide the bark.
caption: Amate paper wall hanging from San Pablito
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