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Amate bark paper manuscript Historia de la curacion de Antigua de San Pablito

 Collection — Box: BW 34, Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 16551

Dates

  • Creation: 1979

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Biographical / Historical

Amate (Spanish: amate [aˈmate] from Nahuatl languages: āmatl [ˈaːmat͡ɬ]) is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since the precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices.

Amate paper was extensively produced and used for both communication, records, and ritual during the Triple Alliance; however, after the Spanish conquest, its production was mostly banned[citation needed] and replaced by European paper. Amate paper production never completely died, nor did the rituals associated with it. It remained strongest in the rugged, remote mountainous areas of northern Puebla and northern Veracruz states. Spiritual leaders in the small village of San Pablito, Puebla were described as producing paper with "magical" properties[citation needed]. Foreign academics began studying this ritual use of amate in the mid-20th century, and the Otomi people of the area began producing the paper commercially. Otomi craftspeople began selling it in cities such as Mexico City, where the paper was revived by Nahua painters in Guerrero to create "new" indigenous craft, which was then promoted by the Mexican government.

Through this and other innovations, amate paper is one of the most widely available Mexican indigenous handicrafts, sold both nationally and abroad. Nahua paintings of the paper, which is also called "amate," receive the most attention, but Otomi paper makers have also received attention not only for the paper itself but for crafts made with it such as elaborate cut-outs.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amate

Extent

0.03 Cubic Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from Michael Laird Rare Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 26 February 2019.

Title
Amate bark paper Historia de la curacion de Antigua de San Pablito
Author
Ellen Welch
Date
2021-09-03
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Repository

Contact:
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22904-4110 United States