posted on October 27, 2007 10:46:51 PM new
I have a wall thing from Mexico. It's a small tin window, on a door that opens, with a couple inside shown as skeletons and a photo of the married couple when young, behind the skeletons. Over them are the words Siempre Juntos. It's made of tin and glass, is brightly painted, and the whole thing is about 10"x6".
I've been wracking my brain trying to remember what these are called - and all that comes to mind is something like "replogos." But I've googled that word, and it doesn't seem to be the right word. Any hints for me?
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posted on October 28, 2007 05:26:49 AM new
The skeleton may suggest a folk art piece created in tribute to the Mexican "Day of the Dead" celebration. Profe's answer will be interesting!
posted on October 28, 2007 06:22:29 AM new
ding ding ding...Mingo and helen are both right, sort of. Really a retablo should include a saint or the Virgin of Guadalupe, but this would be called a retablo too for lack of a specific term.
Since what you have contains an actual photo of the married couple, it was probably originally made to be part of an Ofrenda, which is a family altar that's set up at home for El Dia de los Muertos. The ofrenda will include pictures, mementos, favorite foods of the deceased, flowers and votive candles, pretty much anything the family wants to use to honor their loved ones who have died. The calacas, skeletons as you probably know are the pervasive symbol of the Day of the Dead and help us to understand that death is not the end of our journey but an inevitable transition and an integral part of life. Here's a pic of part of an ofrenda. "Siempre juntos" means "together forever".
posted on October 28, 2007 09:57:10 AM new
Profe, that's it! Thanks so much. Our daughter and husband have traveled extensively in Mexico, speak fairly fluent Spanish, and have collected many items from their travels there. They gave this retablo to us on one of our wedding anniversaries.
Their little son, 6, is in kindergarten now, in the Bay Area, in a Spanish-immersion class. It's the wave of the future, isn't it.
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posted on October 28, 2007 09:58:37 AM new
Forgot to mention: Our daughter and her husband celebrate day of the dead every year, with displays on a large buffet for dead relatives. It's very touching. (And it's the day before my birthday, every year. Nice that the whole nation celebrates with parties the night before, isn't it!)
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posted on October 28, 2007 03:00:45 PM new
Profe--here's the retablo I was asking about. What I noticed while photographing it is that the photo of the man shows an eyepatch, and ditto for his skeleton. At first I'd thought it was a flaw in the art.
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[ edited by roadsmith on Oct 28, 2007 03:02 PM ]
