Mexican Lacquered Maque Blue, Yellow & Flowers Wood Dish from Uruapan

ABOUT THIS MAQUE LACQUERED DISH

This one of a kind Maque lacquered wood plate or batea is from Uruapan, Michoacan.It is decorated with flowers on a dish with blue background and a yellow border. The whole batea was crafted using the almost lost pre columbian technique of Maque, a type of lacquer developed by the Purepecha indian during the XIVth century. To make the painting, the artist must etch out the pattern and paint it after with a hand made mixture of vegetable pigments, oils and minerals. The preparation of the paint takes several days.