Alebrijes and More

Today it is snowing in Madison, Wisconsin. The continuing journal of the last buying trip to Mexico makes me homesick for the warmth and color and fine friends of Mexico. Sigh. . .

[Continuing journal written by Chiripa partners on a recent buying trip.]

August 23

Jacobo Angeles and his wife María produce the finest alebrijes in Mexico. They are also wonderful people, and it was a pleasure to visit them again this year. We found them in their family workshop in the village of San Martín Tilcahete, Oaxaca, Mexico.


Many artisans in the Oaxaca area produce alebrijes -- carved and painted wooden animals that can take many forms. But Jacobo and Maria have raised this craft to the level of fine art. Their finely carved pieces are typically produced from a single piece of wood, and have an amazingly graceful and living form. The figures are painted with intricate, precise and complex designs (using beautiful naturally-derived colors and traditional indigenous patterns) that you must see to believe. The completed figures have a pensive, elegant, almost human quality. We bought a number of fine pieces from Jacobo and María, including a big, exquisitely painted Jaguar head.

Maria with the jaguar head that she so expertly painted.

In a place of honor at Chiripa.

The road to San Martín Tilcahete goes through other craft villages including San Bartolo Coyotopec, Santo Tomás Jalieza, and Ocotlán. In San Bartolo we visited the workshop of the late Rosa Real Mateo (Doña Rosa discovered the process for producing the famous Oaxacan black pottery), and picked out a number of black pottery pieces for Chiripa.

Click on the photo to see a piece of black pottery for sale on the Chiripa website.

In Santo Tomás we chose some fine and colorful cotton table linens woven on traditional backstrap looms by women in the town.


In Ocotlán, we visited the family workshop (commune, really) of the famous Josephina Aguilar and her extended family. Chickens and turkeys strutted through the compound, and a host of grandchildren ran about and posed for photos as we selected some of the small clay figurines for which Josephina is famous.


Between villages, we got on and off several local buses. In San Martín, we also got a ride in the little golf-cart type vehicle that serves as the village taxi. Finally, as evening approached, we climbed on the bus and headed back to Oaxaca. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at the Majordomo Chocolate store in the bustling market district southwest of the zócalo, where they make fresh chocolate to order, and had our traditional hot chocolate.