Cartonería: Mexican Paper Maché Handcrafts

by Juan Carlos Dozal Varela

Human Heritage

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Paper, thin cardboard sheets, flour and glue are the few principal elements in the art of producing paper maché handcrafts. Its origin might be as old as paper (there is evidence it was used in ancient Egypt), and it is quite widespread around the world.

In Mexico, aside from being a very common home-used handcraft, it has a discreet yet thorough relationship with various festivities and traditions that give identity to a wide variety of communities, from the indigenous to those with a stronger european background.

Little is known about the native method for ellaborating paper maché handcrafts, although we do know it existed. There were two kinds of paper, which are still used for various purposes: amate , which is made out of either Ficus continifolia or Ficus padifolia , and paper made out of the skin of maguey , a cactus of which there is quite an abundance, and which produces also pulque (fermented beverage), mezcal and tequila (distilled), mecate (rope), ixtle (a rough textile), and many other things.

With the conquest and colonization, European forms of paper became more widely used, while the use of native paper declined. A complex coexistence of native and european handcrafts occurred. Sadly, although the conquerors were taken aback by the abilities of the native, ethnic rivalry between them and the spaniards relegated the native to a marginal position at craftsmen workshops, which were the nuclea of daily-use and artistic handcraft production. Nevertheless, local production for daily and ritual use by the communities for themselves was not so regulated by the government, so other native techniques did thrive.

According to Daniel Rubin de la Borbolla, a specialist on popular arts, cardboard was introduced in the 18^th century to America.

Nowadays, the most common festive uses of paper maché are piñatas, Judas (pronounced “hoo-das” in spanish), and dance masks.