Mexic-Arte Museum Store Labels

The Monarch Butterfly held a special significance to the ancient Aztecs, who believed that the souls of their departed loved ones returned to them in the form of hummingbirds and butterflies. This is a belief still held by many in Mexico today, where Monarch butterflies migrate by the millions every fall coinciding with the Day of the Dead.

Diego Rivera, born in 1886, was one of the founders of the Mexican Muralist Movement and is considered by many as one of the best Mexican artists of the 20th century. Rivera prized murals because of their public accessibility and their large scale, and often painted scenes depicting the Mexican working class, prominent figures of the Mexican Revolution, and the juxtaposition of modern technology with symbols of Mexico’s ancient past. Rivera, who was married to fellow painter Frida Kahlo, painted murals across the United States and Mexico.

La Virgen de Guadalupe, or the Virgin of Guadalupe, is the patron saint of Mexico. According to accounts in both Spanish and indigenous Nahautl, she appeared in 1531 to peasant Juan Diego and asked him to build a church in her honor atop the site of the Pre-Columbian temple of the mother-goddess Tonantzin. The image of the brown-skinned Virgin is iconic in Mexico and is in many ways the ultimate example of the blending of Spanish and indigenous Mexican cultures and beliefs.

Mercado Bags are colorful mesh bags that are popular across Mexico and South Texas. Often used to hold groceries and other shopping purchases, these bags are durable and reusable, offering an attractive and environmentally-friendly alternative to paper or plastic.

Pan Dulce, or Sweet Bread, is a staple across Mexico and is often eaten for breakfast and dinner along with hot chocolate or coffee. The practice of breadmaking began during colonization when the Spanish introduced wheat to Mexico. Mexican bakers developed sweet breads in various shapes with different tastes and textures to create a breadmaking tradition that is uniquely Mexican.

Maracas are percussion instruments traditionally made from dried gourds whose origins in Latin America go back thousands of years. Typically, maracas are shaken in each hand and produce a rattling sound made by the dried seeds of the gourd. To this day, maracas are a key component in Latin American music, both in Central and South America as well as in the Caribbean.

The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910 and ended in 1920, was a long and bloody conflict that shaped the political structure of Mexico today. It began as an overthrow of the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz led by Emiliano Zapata and Francisco “Pancho” Villa, but unrest continued as subsequent leaders proved just as corrupt and the exploitation of poor workers remained the same. Eventually in 1917 the Mexican constitution was created, though it took several more years for the fighting to die out and for the constitutional reforms to go into place.

Alebrijes are wooden sculptures of animals and fantastical creatures that are painted brightly in spectacular detail. The tradition of alebrijes originated from Pedro Linares, a Mexico City artist of the mid 20th century, who got the idea of the alebrije from a surreal dream. Alebrijes remain to this day an important part of the folk art tradition of Oaxaca, its surrounding towns, and Mexico City.

Talavera Pottery is the most well-known type of Mexican pottery with origins beginning in the 16th century. Named after the Spanish city Talavera de la Reina, talavera pottery developed from a union of Spanish and indigenous methods. Talavera pottery today takes the form of not only plates and serving utensils, but also of tiles, planters and decorative figurines, and is produced in Puebla and Guanajuato.

Barro Negro Pottery, or black clay pottery, has been a tradition in Oaxaca for hundreds of years. The pottery made by the indigenous Zapotecs was a dark gray and was used to make utilitarian vessels. In the 1950’s, artisans learned how to make the pottery black and shiny by changing their firing technique, an innovation that transformed the role of the pottery from utilitarian to decorative.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist born in 1907 who first started painting during her recovery from a near fatal bus accident that left her in chronic pain for the rest of her life. Frida’s sometimes surrealist paintings explore her emotional life, her own physical pain, her tumultuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera, and her connection with indigenous Mexico. Instantly recognizable because of her iconic eyebrow, Frida has become a cultural symbol in Mexico and beyond.

Batea Trays are crafted from carved wood and are painted and lacquered in the traditional style of Quiroga, Michoacan, where batea trays and bowls have been made for over 450 years. Dramatically painted with a black background and bright, blooming flowers, beatea trays are left unadorned on the bottom and are used primarily as decorative pieces.

Trompos are brightly painted wooden tops that players send spinning by pulling on a string wound around the toys. Players compete to see whose top spins the longest, and sometimes “battle” their tops by sending them spinning into one another.