page_title: Handcrafts and folk art in Chiapas
section_title: Other crafts
hierarchical_section_title: Handcrafts and folk art in Chiapas / Other crafts
caption_attribution_description: English: Masks for the Dance of the Parachicos in Chiaps at the Museo Nacional de la Máscara, San Luis Potosí
context_page_description: Chiapas handcrafts and folk art is most represented with the making of pottery, textiles and amber products, though other crafts such as those working with wood, leather and stone are also important. The state is one of Mexico's main handcraft producers, with most artisans being indigenous women, who dominate the production of pottery and textiles. The making of handcrafts has become economically and socially important in the state, especially since the 1980s, with the rise of the tourist market and artisans’ cooperatives and other organizations. These items generally cannot compete with commercially made goods, but rather are sold for their cultural value, primarily in San Cristóbal de las Casas.
context_section_description: Various products are made from various woods in various communities of the state. Tzotzil men in San Juan Chamula are noted for their wood working, especially working with hardwoods such as cedar and mahogany, generally making furniture for home and industry. Musical instruments such as strings, percussion, wind and high quality marimbas in fine woods are made in Tecpatan, Ocosingo, San Juan Chamula and Venustiano Carranzo. Wood is also used to make a variety of products including tools, decorative figures, cooking utensils, ceremonial masks, toys (tops, miniatures, etc.) and more. Chiapa de Corzo is noted for the making of wooden bowls, spoons, toys, masks and more, a significant number of which are destined to be lacquered. Masks are made in San Fernando and Huixtan, with the most representative being the mask for the Parachico dance of Chiapa de Corzo. It represents how the Spanish looked to the indigenous, with a high forehead, thin nose, light-colored eyes, red cheeks and mustache and beard. These masks take about ten days to make and cost between 2,800 and 3,500 pesos each. Tecpatán and surrounding communities are noted for wood sculptures made of fine woods, which may be painted or even lacquered.
  Wrought iron and tin are worked in San Cristobal de las Casas. Iron is worked mostly for making plows and other agricultural implements, but other items such as decorative elements for buildings such as balconies and railings are also produced. These accoutrements are mainly in colonial style, and the neighborhood most noted for this work is El Cerillo.
  The working of stone is a relatively new and growing craft, much of which is dedicated to making reproduction of Mayan artifacts, especially those of Palenque, made in the modern town of the same name and nearby Salta del Agua. An older stone craft is the working of jade with deposits found here and in neighboring Guatemala. In San Cristobal, there is a museum dedicated to this stone and its working.
  Traditional sweets are often made with tropical fruits, along with squash, chocolate and nuts. The town of Arriaga is noted for its candy making using squash, cheese, and desserts such as rice pudding and muéganos. For Day of the Dead, the Zoques are noted for making puxinú, which is sorghum mixed with honey, yumi (a sweet potato confection) and other sweets made from squash, and various local products.
  Traditional toys are also made from materials such as cartonería, fabric, ixtle, tin and reeds, mainly in Tenejapa and San Juan Chamula.
  The Lacandons make rain sticks, filled with seeds so than when turned simulate the sound of rain. This ethnic group also makes jewelry, mostly necklaces and bracelets from various native seeds including ARECACEAE: Sabal mexicana Martius, Desmoncus orthacanthos Mart., CANNACEAE: Canna edulis Ker. and Canna indica L., FABACEAE: Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jack.) Griseb, Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb., Entada gigas (L.) Fawc. & Rendle, Rhynchosia precatoria (H. & B. ex Willd.) DC., Mucuna sloanei Fawcett & Rendle and Mucuna argyrophylla Standley, Ormosia macrocalyx Ducke and Ormosia schippii Pierce ex Standley & Steyermark, Oxyrhynchus trinervius (Donn. Sm.) Rudd. POACEAE: Coix lacryma-jobi L., and SAPINDACEAE: Sapindus saponaria L.
  Leather working was introduced to the state by the Spanish and is currently done to make items such as handbags, saddles, shoes, scabbards for knives and machetes and more.  Most of this work is cone in Comitán and San Cristobal de las Casas.
  Other handcrafted items include earrings made in gold filigree, hammocks in Berriozabal, and sombreros in San Juan Chamula and Ocosingo.
caption: Parachicos masks at the Museo Nacional de la Máscara, San Luis Potosí
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