Miniature crafts and their makers : palm weaving in a Mexican town /

This brief volume is a personal account of research on palm-frond craftwork in Chigmecatitlan, a small Mixtec town in Puebla, Mexico. Faced with near-desert conditions and infertile, rocky soil, the inhabitants supplement their income by weaving baskets and curios. Most important of these are miniature genre figures, showing people and animals in various rustic walks of life. Anthropologist Flechsig expected to find an ancient craft practiced for art's sake, but found it to be a relatively new business, strictly commercial--a result of need more than aesthetic passion. On the other hand, the inhabitants maintain high standards of quality and look down on the workmanship of other towns. Interspersed with details on the craft are accounts of village life, religious conflicts, and personal vicissitudes of research. The book is well illustrated with good photographs of the town and the palm-frond items. This well-written, engaging book will appeal to a wide audience: it is accessible to neophytes but ethnographically important enough to be required reading for serious students of Mexican folk arts. One wishes only that it had more detail and even more color illustrations. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. E. N. Anderson University of California, Riverside