Six generations manufacturing Nativities in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco

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Francisco Martínez Reyes (Photo: OEM)

Francisco Martínez Reyes has lived among handicrafts for half a century. He belongs to the sixth generation of artisans and was a descendant of the renowned Pantaleón Panduro, at a very young age, he started learning the art of clay.

At dawn, he begins to work in his workshop, where he also lives with his family, four blocks from Parián, in the center of San Pedro Tlaquepaque, a land of artisans.

The nativity scenes that Francisco manufactures are well-valued by some sectors, mainly collectors, even from other countries.

The Nativities are traditional, including the Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, an angel, the three Magi, two shepherds, two sheep, a bull, and a mule.

Artisans from various parts of the country received the National Ceramics Award in San Pedro Tlaquepaque on Friday, Dec. 17th. Photo: Aurelio Magaña | El Occidental

Francisco’s wife María de Jesús Peña Ibarra, originally from Tijuana and whom he married two decades ago, has been making Nativities for the last ten years.

She has specialized in modernist Nativities, where all the figures have “childlike” faces and her work has also been well received not only in Mexico but abroad aw s well, due to her peculiar style of painting.

Recently Maria received a call from Washington, from where she was commissioned a modernist Nativity.

“I felt very important when they told me about Washington to request births exclusively for the ones I do,” Maria said with a laugh.

Source: OEM

The Guadalajara Post