The stamps or "pintaderas" for ceremonial tortillas are a representation of the Otomí beliefs and religious syncretism of the municipalities of Comonfort and San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato and the Mi Ranchito community in Querétaro.
They constitute part of the identity of the ethnic group located around the Laja River, which differs culturally from the communities of the northwest region of the state of Guanajuato. Apart from the area indicated, there is no other region in the country with a similar tradition. The tortillas referred to here are only prepared to celebrate an important event.
The practice of engraving and painting tortillas probably has a Pre-Columbian origin, but the use of mesquite wood stamps apparently comes from the 19th century. The tortillas are painted with various religious images, phytomorphic zoomorphic figures, scenes of local celebrations, indigenous symbols and even civic celebrations such as September 16th, and are used in gratitude for the good harvests.
It is a collective rite in which food ceases to be ordinary and becomes extraordinary. Initially, they were used in religious celebrations, later they were also included in national civic commemorations and family celebrations such as weddings and baptisms.
According to Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, the Otomíes had a main Easter that they held when they wanted to celebrate the harvest, called tascanme, which in the Otomí language means "Easter of white bread". It was an ancient festivity that they commemorated with great solemnity. The entire population revered in this festivity for the old Mother goddess with fruits of the harvest as a tithe of what was produced.
Hence, it was congruent for them to assume that the image of communion was corn bread with a printed Catholic image. Thus, the indigenous people made the communion wafer with corn, giving it various representations. From this perspective, ceremonial tortillas are a syncretism of both religions, in which the and circular form of the offering with the Catholic symbolism was preserved.
For the Otomíes, as for the rest of the Mesoamerican people, corn is the organizer of religious life, the vital space of the coexistence of men with the gods. After the Conquest and evangelization, the calendar of the Pre-Columbian celebrations was reworked around that of the patronal festivities of the saints with a resignification of the indigenous pantheon.
In the case of corn, the sacred symbol is linked to Catholic patronages such as the Holy Cross, Saint Isidore the Laborer and Saint John, which are the images that appear most frequently in painted tortillas.
It should be mentioned that for the Otomíes the image of the cross that shows Christ crucified is the image associated with the ages of the ion narrated in the Bible, which is displayed especially in the celebrations of Holy Week. However, the Holy Cross without the representation of Christ is a devotion that is related to agricultural cycles.
The Catholic images of the tortillas are mostly associated with the images found in the chapels of the different parishes and communities. In this regard, the understanding of the tortillas and their meaning is part of the rite for which they were made.
Tortilla stamps are also known as pintaderas. They are usually made by men using the core of the mesquite tree, since it is the most moisture resistant wood and is well preserved due to its hardness. They are usually embossed on both sides, which is what allows the image to be stamped.
They have a round or square shape and are always flat. Some stamps have a handle for ease of use. Each stamp has its own aesthetic and its value is associated with the celebration represented and the inheritance of grandmothers, mothers, daughters and daughters-in-law, that is, the female consanguineous ties.
The traditional technique for painting tortillas consists of the use of plants from the region, such as muicle and cochineal. From the first one, the purple color is obtained, and from the second, red in different shades. Once the pigment is obtained, the women insert a corn cob into the liquid pigment and then roll it over the mold so that the color is impregnated.
At the same time, the tortillas are prepared in the press and placed on the griddle; halfway through cooking they are carefully ed over the impregnated stamp. The tortilla does not have to be pressed since the relief of the stamp allows the color to be impregnated in the soft dough for a few seconds. Subsequently, it is removed from the stamp and placed on the griddle again with the painted side facing down.
All of this requires knowledge and practice that has been handed down among the women of these communities from generation to generation, in the manner of a science of daily life.
Each part of the process has an explanation, for example, the liquid pigment is dehydrated with the heat of the griddle at the same time as the tortilla is cooked, which causes the paint to be impregnated in the dough, so the dye does not run when the tortilla is filled. Knowing the cooking time is also important because when the already painted tortilla is placed again on the griddle, the cooking time must be calculated otherwise small black spots will appear on the tortilla that obstruct the image. Another calculation is that of the amount of liquid pigment that is placed on the mold as if it is too much, the representation deforms and if it is too little, it is incomplete.
The Otomí stamps of the Amparo Museum do not offer Catholic images, but rather of the Otomí beliefs in communion with the god of corn, which is represented by the tortilla itself; in this regard, they are an example of the perception of nature as a spiritual entity since the building of spaces for the worship of the gods and the ritualism around them were practices that the Otomíes brought with them as a legacy of their ancestors and have been preserved as part of their identity.
The craftsmanship of this stamp ensemble is elaborate and of excellent quality, even when compared to other copies in existence, for example, in the Mi Ranchito museum in Querétaro.
This particular piece presents the national eagle with Otomí phytomorphic iconography in its contour on one side, which is why it is thought that it was elaborated and used in a civic celebration. The reverse shows the representation of the Otomí deer dance.
