page_title: Traditional metal working in Mexico
section_title: Tin
hierarchical_section_title: Traditional metal working in Mexico / Tin
caption_attribution_description: Tropenmuseum Amsterdam Votive painting for Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico
context_page_description: Traditional metal working in Mexico dates from the Mesoamerican period with metals such as gold, silver and copper. Other metals were mined and worked starting in the colonial period. The working of gold and silver, especially for jewelry, initially declined after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. However, during the colonial period, the working of metals rose again and took on much of the character traditional goods still have. Today, important metal products include those from silver, gold, copper, iron, tin and more made into jewelry, household objects, furniture, pots, decorative objects, toys and more. Important metal working centers include Taxco for silver, Santa Clara del Cobre for copper, Celaya for tin and Zacatecas for wrought iron.
context_section_description: In the colonial period, tin was worked for its functional rather than aesthetic value. It was created and sold in standard sheets, which were then cut, folded and joined to make various objects. These sheets also became a traditional base for folk ex votos. Today, tin and other sheet metals, often from industrial waste, is still used to create decorative and functional objects such as castles, churches, masks, airplane models, saints, nativity scenes, contains, mirror frames, chandeliers, lamps, trays and plates. Another important line is toys, which are painted in bright enamels, especially in Celaya and San Miguel de Allende. Other important centers include Oaxaca, Irapuato, Mexico City, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Tlaquepaque .
caption: Traditional votive painting on tin from 1911
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