Southwest Folklore Center Magdalena de Kino painted glass collection

The collection consists of examples of reverse painting on glass objects, usually with tin borders, decorative trim or frames. The collection includes crosses; pieces intended for wall hanging; boxes and examples of unfinished pieces; and pieces from cultural traditions outside the Magdalena de Kino, Mexico, area. The pieces in this collection represent the work of itinerant artisans known as pajareros, or “birdcatchers,” from Magdalena de Kino, Mexico, who make and sell them at the annual festival of San Francisco in Magdalena de Kino, Mexico. The major forms of these pieces are decorative crosses, rectangular pieces intended for wall hanging, and decorative boxes. The rectangular pieces usually include a clear area in the glass for the inclusion of an illustration, either supplied by the artist, or for the purchaser to customize. The collection also includes clear glass boxes with tin frames containing the likeness of San Francisco, the patron saint of Magdalena de Kino. The collection includes photographs of painted glass artisans, scenes from the festival of San Francisco, and scenery from the surrounding Sonoran countryside.

Artists represented in the collection include Francisco, Gregoria and Guadelupe Guttierez; Anastacio, Eduardo, Jesús, Matilde and Martín León; Álvaro and Catalina Moreno; Olga Ruiz; and members of the Francisco Silva family. The collection does not necessarily represent a complete sample of all styles of art for sale in any given year. Attempts have been made, however, to see that all artists are represented in the pieces collected each year. Each piece in the collection is identified by name, year, and sequence number as follows: Surname, First Name: Year -Sequence Number. Where the date or artist are unknown, this is indicated in the appropriate portion of the identifier.

This collection is part of the Southwest Folklore Center collection. The Southwest Folklore Center was founded in 1979 after the dissolution of the University of Arizona Folklore Committee and collected information about folk communities, arts, music, and other humanities-related materials. This collection was previously SWF 003. The materials were transferred to Special Collections in 2017.