La China Poblana
Location: Puebla
Description:
Trajes Regionales Mexicanos is a beautiful folio of 12 images depicting the traditional types of costume in Mexico. The publishing date of 1961 lends it not only anthropological credence (this is well after the advent of anthropology as a science), but also a sense of the ways in which native and European clothing have blended over the years. When looking at these color lithographs, we can see that the artist was clearly concerned with the aesthetics of the work, because the figures are all quite attractive people wearing exquisitely drawn costumes. The information in the folio is limited, but useful, but the images themselves are invaluable. The images present a méange of European and native American costume, and when compared to other earlier works, we can truly appreciate the beauty of the images. The images I have chosen to highlight from this work present two performers wearing the traditional costume of folk dancers.
First we see La China Poblana. La China Poblana is so named because of the colonial era legend that a Chinese princess came to Mexico aboard a Spanish ship, bringing her costume with her. It is possible that an east Asian girl was brought to Mexico by the Spanish in the seventeenth century, but the likelihood that her own traditional costume is small. The description asserts that her dress is much more reminiscent of Spanish costumes typical of the Cáceres province in western Spain. Certain aspects of her costume clearly originated in Europe; The floral patterns and eagle motif - which has become one of the symbols of Mexico - as well as her traditionally European high-heeled shoes (although this is a later work, we can be fairly confident these shoes were not a native invention). La China Poblana is not a conservative dresser; she does not wear the typical head covering that we see in so many other images from Spanish-influenced Mexico, and her colorful jewelry is probably a result of the native tradition. So strong is the legend of La China Poblana that there is a monument erected to her, and that this style of dress as a whole, is named after her.
Book Title: Trajes regionales mexicanos
Plate Number: Plate 6
Call Number: GT625 .M85 1961