New Mexican TINWORK, 1840-1940 [Hardcover] [SOLD]

This book, based on exhaustive research, describes the tools, materials, and processes of tinwork.  The authors explain how to date New Mexican tinwork and define the functional types of tin items. Their most remarkable accomplishment is their identification of individual tinsmiths and workshops in both the Spanish and Revival periods.  In addition, they offer information on identifying Mexican tinwork.

From the Foreword

With this beautiful publication, New Mexican Tinwork becomes something far more than a subject for idle curiosity. The authors have tackled a nearly forgotten craft with incredible success. In an area where little was known or even remembered, Lane Coulter and Maurice Dixon have documented a tradition, defined styles, and introduced dating methods to describe this fragile and once popular art form, adding another volume to the available serious examinations of southwestern material culture.  -Ward Alan Minge  [From the Foreword]

From the Jacket:

This pioneering book is the first account of a unique American folk art. Hitherto largely overlooked by collectors and scholars, Hispanic tinwork became an important religious folk craft in late nineteenth-century New Mexico, when tin came to the region along with the U.S. Army, largely in the form of tin cans, which could be made into candle sconces and frames and nichos for religious art. The craft was kept alive by the Spanish Pueblo Revival movement of Anglo newcomers to northern New Mexico after World War I. Although candle sconces and home-made frames were no longer needed even in remote villages, the Spanish Pueblo Revival movement encouraged tinsmiths to make lamps and mirrors, the items that are still popular in Santa Fe Style décor.

This book, based on exhaustive research, describes the tools, materials, and processes of tinwork. The authors explain how to date New Mexican tinwork and define the functional types of tin items. Their most remarkable accomplishment is their identification of individual tinsmiths and workshops in both the Spanish and Revival periods. In addition, they offer information on identifying Mexican tinwork.

Image Source: ATADA.org 

Image: Lane Coulter and Jan Brooks

New Mexican Tinwork 1840-1940 

by Lane Coulter and Maurice Dixon, Jr.

University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

Hardback with slip cover, first edition, 1990.  189 pages

This book, based on exhaustive research, describes the tools, materials, and processes of tinwork.  The authors explain how to date New Mexican tinwork and define the functional types of tin items. Their most remarkable accomplishment is their identification of individual tinsmiths and workshops in both the Spanish and Revival periods.  In addition, they offer information on identifying Mexican tinwork.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Dr. Ward Alan Minge

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Map

1. The History of Spanish New Mexican Tinwork

2. Tools, Materials, and Processes

3. Dating New Mexican Tinwork

4. Functional Types of Spanish Tinwork

Color Plates

5. The Tinsmiths - 

Santa Fe Federal Workshop

Rio Ariba Workshop

The Taos Serrate Tinsmith

Mora Octagonal Workshop

José Maria Apodaca

Rio Abajo Workshop

The Valencia Red and Green Tinsmith

The Isleta Tinsmith

The Mesilla Combed Paint Tinsmith

The Fan Lunette Tinsmith

H. V. Gonzales

Other Tinsmiths

6. The Revival Period

7. Identifying Mexican Tinwork

Conclusion

Notes

Glossary

Appendix

Hispanic Tinsmiths in the United States Census, 1850-1910, and Other Hispanic Tinsmiths

Bibliography

Photographic Credits

Index