HUICHOL YARN PAINTING: Colors: blue (background), red, orange, black, green, yellow, red & blue grey. Three figures along the bottom (red, green & yellow), 1 figure at upper center (blue-grey) and 1 figure at right (green). Three figures – 2 circular and one a decorated rectangle with protuberances for each corner, as well as 3 figures that resemble tree branches are in 3 corners. Otilia Pinedo Lopez - artist
Donor:
John Paul
Collection place:
Mexico
Culture or time period:
Wixáritari (Huichol)
Collector:
John Paul
Materials:
Wood (plant material) and Yarn
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Yarn paintings
Function:
5.2 Magic: Objects Associated with Practices reflecting confidence in the ability to manipulate supernatural agencies
Accession date:
February 24, 2011
Department:
Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean area
Dimensions:
whole— length 30 centimeters and whole— width 30 centimeters
Comment:
(NOTE: Descriptive label in Spanish and English on back of painting.) The Mother of Maize changes from dove to human shape and introduces the boy to her five daughters, symbolizing the five sacred colors of maize- white, red, yellow speckled with blue. The boy is hungry, and the Mother of Maize gives him a bowl with tortillas of five colors and a gourd bowl full of atole. He does not think it enough to still his hunger and thirst, but tortillas and atole magically renew themselves so that in the end he cannot finish. The Mother of Maize asks him to choose a girl and he takes Blue Maize Girl the most beautiful and sacred of all. But his own mother greets him with anger, because instead of maize he brings another mouth to feed. He explains that the girls herself is maize, that she must be treated well or she will leave. The mother fails to understand and the girl deserts them, because they did not know that maize is sacred and must be revered.