Printable Version		Email to a Friend		Write to Alexandra

The Eight Crafts of Oaxaca Valley

Oaxaca is famous across the country for the creativeness and peculiarity of its handcraft traditions. Each village seems to favor a particular raw material, from fabric and wool in the valley of Oaxaca, to clay and iron more east, and even precious metals in the North. It is this creativity based on centuries-old traditional techniques that distinguishes Oaxaca internationally.

Quick Jump: Choose Handicraft... Pottery Basketry Iron Work Ceramics Jewelry Leather Work Textiles

Below is a list of the most popular handicrafts:

Pottery: Maybe the oldest tradition in Oaxaca, pottery is mostly found in Santa María Atzompa - green glazed pottery clay - and in San Bartolo Coyotepec - black ceramic-. The clay has special properties that gives it a characteristic color and crystalline texture once baked. Decorations still follow ancestral patterns and styles. On the shelves of the throngs of shops around the village, you’ll find the shiny black clayware in many shapes from huge jars, pitchers and bowls to figurines and candle-holders. Merchants will deftly demonstrates how for centuries Zapotec Indians have turned out pots without the aid of the potter’s wheel. A ten-inch vase cut through with leafy, Matisse-like designs costs $3.

Still common utensils at most of Oaxaca's households (Source).

Basketry: Many Artisans in the Valley of Oaxaca still use green reed to manually make cages, baskets, lamps, candy dishes and curtains. The basket makers twine strands of straw in a process similar to weaving. The use of bright, primary colors makes festive accent pieces that gladden any place you put them. Few of these are exported.

Iron Work: Wrought iron was introduced in Oaxaca during colonial time and made famous the ironwork from Juquila and Jamiltepec, including its famous coastal machetes and the artistic fences of Tlacolula.

Ceramics: A more recent artform in Oaxaca, it nevertheless enjoyed an explosive growth over the last few decades. Mostly originating from small villages nearby Oaxaca City, these exuberant, whimsical creations range from the fantastic to the religious, including mermaids, angels, Zapotec creatures, figures of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, vases, candle holders, and decorative plates -- all finely crafted and distinctly colored.

Read more about Oaxaca's ceramics

Jewelry: Jewelry is plentiful as well, but quality varies widely, so be watchful. Among the wide of design, the reproductions of the gems found in Monte Albán are particularly thought after.

Traditional dresses are usually in reddish and brownish tones

Leather Work: Tanned leather is mostly found in the Ejutla and Jalatlaco tanneries. Most noteworthy are the embroidered machete covers and horse saddles. The process to tan leather takes from a month and a half to two months and the work is sill totally manual.

Textiles: Traditional textiles are still made with ancient looms (above) and stained with natural dyes, like those obtained from the famous grana cochinilla, a bug that lives in a cactus from which the red, orange and yellow dye is extracted. Blue dye is obtained from the indigo plant, green from moss, and black from bean pod. Textiles are available in all marketplaces. The serapes (small decorative rugs) are one variety very typical of the community around Teotitlán del Valle.

Woodwork: Oaxaca's woodwork is also internationally recognized. Ranging from local species to creatures befitting medieval myths, they make bangal tigers look downright anemic. "The thing to look for is expressive form," one local dealer advised me, "because there are more good painters than good sculptors."

More Information about Oaxaca Woodcarving

In Oaxaca, drop by the Casa de Artesianias or House of the Artesans. This store doubles as an exhibit run by the government, displaying samples of most of Oaxacan traditional artwork and craft. There are about 6 or 7 different rooms in this shop, each dedicated to an handicraft.