![ToyRoomToluca06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/ToyRoomToluca06.JPG)
Lupita dolls, also known as
cartonería
Cartonería or papier-mâché sculptures are a traditional handcraft in Mexico. The papier-mâché works are also called "carton piedra" (rock cardboard) for the rigidness of the final product. These sculptures today are generally made for certain ...
dolls, are toys made from a very hard kind of
papier-mâché
upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico
Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...
which has its origins about 200 years ago in central
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. They were originally created as a substitute for the far more expensive
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
dolls and maintained popularity until the second half of the 20th century, with its availability of plastic dolls. Today they are made only by certain artisans’ workshops in the city of Celaya, as collectors’ items. Since the 1990s, there have been efforts to revitalize the crafts by artists such as María Eugenia Chellet and Carolina Esparragoza sponsored by the government to maintain traditional techniques but update the designs and shapes.
The dolls
![MissLupita64](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/MissLupita64.jpg)
A Lupita doll is a kind of papier-mâché doll which was made primarily by the poor along with those from straw, wood and rags.
The papier-mâché technique is properly called cartonería, making a very hard surface when dry. This technique has been used to make a number of crafts up to this day, most notably to make
alebrijes
Alebrijes () are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures.
Description
The monos de madera or alebrijes as they are called in Spanish were originally created by carver Manuel Jimenez but soon becam ...
and skeletal and other figures for
Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...
.
The dolls are usually created with the help of molds, one for the head and torso and others for the arms and legs, with the strips of paper and paste layered on thickly. When the five pieces are dry, holes are bored into them in order to connect the arms and legs. The two arms are connected to the body with a single cord that extends from one upper arm, through the torso, to the other upper arm, with knots visible on the upper arms. The legs are attached similarly. This allows the arms and legs to be moved from the shoulders and hips respectively. Traditional Lupitas are painted in various flesh tones and with other colors to simulate clothing or underwear. On traditional dolls, flower designs of
Otomi
The Otomi (; es, Otomí ) are an indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region.
The Otomi are an indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguisticall ...
origin are also painted. Those painted with underwear are then dressed in some kind of costume.
The making of Lupitas is known mostly in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and in the city of
Celaya
Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...
,
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
, where they are simply called “muñecas de carton” (cartonería dolls).
In Celaya, the dolls are given names which are painted on the chest.
These dolls were often played with along with toy chairs and tables along with play dishes. They are still often displayed sitting on a miniature chair.
History
![MissLupita42](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/MissLupita42.jpeg)
The hard papier-mâché has its origins in the late colonial to early
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
period, created by poorer families to imitate more expensive porcelain dolls from Spain.
In Mexico City, the name Lupita is derived from the diminutive for the popular girls name of Guadalupe. In the past they were sold in Mexico City in places such as the Sonora Market, where other items made of cartonería such as piñatas and Judas figures are still sold. The dolls remained popular until the era of commercial plastic dolls.
A number of stories surround the dolls. One of these is that a wife who feels that her husband is cheating on her would buy one of these dolls and write the name of his supposed mistress to let him know that she knew. Another story says that they were used in the past to advertise brothels in Mexico City with each doll representing a prostitute. The dolls in the windows indicated which women were available.
However, since the second half of the 20th century, the dolls have lost popularity. They are no longer made in Mexico City and are only available from certain artisans in Celaya, sold not as toys but as collectors’ items.
These artisans include Lupita Hernández and Luis Alberto Canchola who makes the dolls in various sizes.
Since the 1990s, there have been efforts by the government to revitalize the craft. One of these was the Jugar a las Muñecas. De las Lupes a las Robóticas project managed by artist María Eugenia Chellet from 1991 to 2008. It worked to create innovation in the dolls, creating images from mass media, the circus, harlequins, and animal/human figures. The dolls were painted in acrylics and decorated with items such as clothing, beads, feathers, ribbons and more. The main goal of the project was to see the dolls not as anonymous handcrafts but rather as works of art. This project was sponsored by
CONACULTA
The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...
and had workshops and exhibitions in various parts of Mexico. This was followed in 2010 by the
Miss Lupita project
Miss Lupita is a project based in Mexico City with the aim of reviving the traditional craft of Lupita dolls. The dolls originated in the late 18th and early 19th century as a way to cheaply copy more expensive imported dolls for poorer families. ...
headed by Caroline Esparragoza in Mexico City, with support from Chellet and the Fondo Nacional para las Artes y Cultura. The goal of this project is to preserve the traditional techniques to make the dolls but to update the designs. Dolls were created by ordinary people with help from artisans and artists and the results were exhibited in Mexico,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. There was even a workshop to make the dolls in Japan.
Cartonería in Celaya has made something of a comeback, including the making of the Lupita dolls.
References
{{Crafts of Mexico
Traditional dolls
Arts in Mexico
Papier-mâché
19th-century establishments in Mexico