I am surprised not to see any small brightly painted wooden carved figures, we were in Santa Fe, NM, which claims to be a sister city to Oaxaca (though that seems now to be a misnomer since from reading your posts I have come to realize Oaxaca is a region and not a city), and in NM they had a lot of these fun and pretty carvings which they said were Oaxaca. I am very fond of the ones we have.
Oh, and by the way, I just love that you send us a picture of one or both doggies at the end of every post. Look forward to that each time.
Thanks for the kind words! I figured having a picture of the dogs at the end of each newsletter would be both a nice end cap, and might encourage people to get to the end of each post.
I know exactly what you're referring to, and the figurines you're describing are called alebrijes. Although they're made in Oaxaca, specifically in the town of San Martín Tilcajete, they were invented in Mexico City in the 1940s and they've become a very common item for tourists. I adore them, but we haven't given them as gifts (not yet, at any rate) for a couple of reasons.
The first is that we tend to give people handmade items that are both beautiful and which also have some kind of utility, like handwoven napkins, candles and candleholders, carved spoons, and things like that. Alebrijes, being art, I think are a riskier gift and I have to know someone extremely well to feel comfortable enough to buy them art.
The second reason is that the quality of alebrijes can vary dramatically, and they tend to get pretty expensive when the carving and painting is of good quality. They also are very often resold by middle people, which inflates prices and is bad for the artisans. I prefer to buy them directly from the makers, which requires a car ride of about an hour and a half each way to get to the village. I'd definitely make the drive, and we have in the past, but all of those factors bundled together means that we tend to get other types of gifts for people.
All of this being said, there are a couple of shops selling alebrijes in Oaxaca de Juárez (the city) which I love and would recommend to people, so it's certainly not impossible to buy nice figurines without the trek out to the village. I've also got one or two inexpensive ones at home which I bought from a random stall at the artisan's market in Mexico City. They're not really all that nice, but I love them just the same.
Thanks so much for this detailed reply, I think you truly have a gift for gift giving, I never thought about how much more appropriate a gift that can be used (or consumed) is than subjective art. And interesting information about the alebrijes.
I am surprised not to see any small brightly painted wooden carved figures, we were in Santa Fe, NM, which claims to be a sister city to Oaxaca (though that seems now to be a misnomer since from reading your posts I have come to realize Oaxaca is a region and not a city), and in NM they had a lot of these fun and pretty carvings which they said were Oaxaca. I am very fond of the ones we have.
Oh, and by the way, I just love that you send us a picture of one or both doggies at the end of every post. Look forward to that each time.
Enjoy your family time!
Thanks for the kind words! I figured having a picture of the dogs at the end of each newsletter would be both a nice end cap, and might encourage people to get to the end of each post.
I know exactly what you're referring to, and the figurines you're describing are called alebrijes. Although they're made in Oaxaca, specifically in the town of San Martín Tilcajete, they were invented in Mexico City in the 1940s and they've become a very common item for tourists. I adore them, but we haven't given them as gifts (not yet, at any rate) for a couple of reasons.
The first is that we tend to give people handmade items that are both beautiful and which also have some kind of utility, like handwoven napkins, candles and candleholders, carved spoons, and things like that. Alebrijes, being art, I think are a riskier gift and I have to know someone extremely well to feel comfortable enough to buy them art.
The second reason is that the quality of alebrijes can vary dramatically, and they tend to get pretty expensive when the carving and painting is of good quality. They also are very often resold by middle people, which inflates prices and is bad for the artisans. I prefer to buy them directly from the makers, which requires a car ride of about an hour and a half each way to get to the village. I'd definitely make the drive, and we have in the past, but all of those factors bundled together means that we tend to get other types of gifts for people.
All of this being said, there are a couple of shops selling alebrijes in Oaxaca de Juárez (the city) which I love and would recommend to people, so it's certainly not impossible to buy nice figurines without the trek out to the village. I've also got one or two inexpensive ones at home which I bought from a random stall at the artisan's market in Mexico City. They're not really all that nice, but I love them just the same.
Thanks so much for this detailed reply, I think you truly have a gift for gift giving, I never thought about how much more appropriate a gift that can be used (or consumed) is than subjective art. And interesting information about the alebrijes.
It’s both a state and a capitol of the state, as New York City is to New York.
I’ve been to Boulenc, pretty good flourless chocolate cake, but yeah, wouldn’t buy any of that other stuff.