Pottery from Oaxaca. Mexico. Circa 1956.

Loose gelatin silver print with white upper and lower margins, the latter being broader. Measurements: 20.5 x 12.5 cm / 8.07 x 4.92 in. On the back of it, different annotations indicating its use in a publication. Work in good condition.

An artisan works without noticing the presence of the camera; probably a Zapotec potter from Atzompa, Oaxaca. “Loading -or unloading- in huge reed baskets, the big pots used for cooking. These vessels are made of natural clay and inside they are applied greta or lead, green in color, to give it impermeability. The great tianguis, or weekly market, was held in the streets surrounding the food market in the center of Oaxaca on Saturdays”. (1)

“The dress and apron for women - we continue with the indications that Marta Turok made us -, simple, is of an industrial genre. A cotton shawl made with the jasper or ikat technique is placed on her head, with folds that make her look like a turban”.

Of Cuban origin, Esteban Antonio de Varona, lawyer and photographer, published among other books "Tasco" (1954), "Guanajuato" and "Acapulco" (1956), "Yucatán" and "Oaxaca" (1957), "The city of Mexico "(1958), and" Teotihuacan, Tula, Tenayuca "and" Puebla "(1959).

Note:

1. Information provided by the anthropologist Marta Turok, curator of the Ruth D. Lechuga collection of popular art (Franz Mayer Museum), considered the most important specialist in traditional textiles in Mexico.