Hammered Copper

Honoring their land and their traditions, the Purépecha descendant artisans, inhabitants of the Magical Town of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, work a millenary technique with which from the pre-Hispanic period they already elaborated various pieces of copper. Art forgers, heirs and hereditaries, transmit their perfected knowledge to the youngest to preserve in time the power to transform a metal into beautiful creations. The copper craftsmen, allies of the fire, the candongas, the anvils, the peaks, the pricker, the chisels, the sledgehammers and the hammers, forge red copper alive initiating the creation. Vases and pots finely decorated with frets, rhombuses, flowers and zoomorph motifs are elaborately mastered, with perfection.

Artisan: Napoleón Pérez Pamatz
Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, México

Text by: Laura Landeros Zuno.
Translation from spanish: Alejandra Vázquez.
Sources: Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular, Primera reimpresión, 2001, Fomento Cultural Banamex, México, D.F., http://artesdemexico.com, http://www.mexicodesconocido.com, https://sites.google.com/site/rechazadoyembutidodemetales/, http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/Rechazado-De-Metales/2701763.html, https://bifea.revues.org/4057?lang=en, http://www.piteadofino.com/piteado_fino_113.htm.