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Food and Drink
Central American ➔ Gourd Dish
Identifier:
176126Description:
This dish is made from a gourd and features a black background with floral designs of pink, blue, orange, and green. It is lacquered and has a red interior.This dish demonstrates an art form that has been practiced in Mexico for more than 500 years. Hard gourd plants are skinned, hollowed, cleaned, dried, and then painted inside and out. Earlier artists covered the fruit with a thick layer of color then painted a second coat in a different shade. The designers would scratch away the surface creating elaborate patterns while magically revealing the undertone. In modern times, painters use multiple colors to highlight scenes of birds, flowers, and nature. The same techniques are applied to maracas and other gourd instruments made in Mexico. Both functional and fancy, the tradition of painting these plants continues to be passed from one generation to the next, sealing its place in Mesoamerican culture.
Materials:
Gourd, PaintDimensions:
3" hCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 3Source:
Gift Of Miss Louise SchweitzerExhibit/Program:
Virtual Discovery Kit: Foodways (May 2020)Food is a universal language. Discover how cultures around the world work in the kitchen.