Folk Art in Texas Page: 47
203 p. : ill., ports. ; 29 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
0 *
Folk Grave Decoration
Along the Rio Grande
Text and Photographs by John O. WestSeveral years ago I was roaming the Southwest,
collecting photographically the family religious
shrines-grutas and nichos-of people living along
the Rio Grande. Across the river from Presidio, in
the Mexican town of Ojinaga, I photographed a sim-
ple little gruta belonging to Susana Fierro. It was
a little over two feet high and not really beautiful to
the eye of the stranger, but it was a little jewel in
its way. Susana carefully tended her statue of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus within it, and she showed me
a larger one-"una herencia de mi mama," an in-
heritance from her mother-inside her home. Susana
told me that when she died, she didn't want a fancy
stone over her own grave, but a simple gruta with
this statue, which meant so much to her, put over
her final resting place.
I had photographed gruta headstones before, in
the camposanto-graveyard-at Socorro, Texas, near
El Paso, but I had never before talked with someone
like Susana who could make me see just how per-
sonal grutas on graves could be. Suddenly the sub-
ject became more important to me, and as I journeyed
the length of the Rio Grande, from the mouth at the
Gulf of Mexico to its origin in Colorado, in search
of grutas, I began recording the vast variety of grave
decoration to be found along the way.
Throughout my wanderings I found that the gruta
headstone is among the forms showing the greatest
amount of variety. Of course, the figure in the niche
or recess varies considerably, the Virgin of Guadalupe
being the most popular. She appears with the rays
of the sun behind, dressed in her star-studded bluecape, as she is generally represented, reproducing
the picture that had miraculously appeared on the
cape of Juan Diego in 1531 outside Mexico City.
Since most of the families using gruta headstones
in the Southwest are not only of the Catholic faith,
but also of Mexican heritage, the choice is quite
natural. Curiously, however, the French manifesta-
tion of the Virgin, Our Lady of Lourdes, probably
ties for second place in frequency with the statue of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And the dark-skinned San
Martin de Porres, offspring of a Spanish grandee and
a freed Negro slave, is also quite popular-perhaps
because like the Mexican in the Southwest, he too
knew what it meant to be lowly born. St. Jude, the
saint of the impossible, is found about as often as
the Holy Family in graveyard grutas.
The materials forming the shell shape of the gruta
also vary considerably. Native rock and reddish-brown
lava are common, but cement is also used, often
crudely cast or even, apparently, hand shaped by local
or family artisans. One of the most memorable I found
was in the barren desert cemetery in Lemitar, New
Mexico, where a manufactured Holy Family group
with adult figures only about four or five inches high
was set within an irregular oval niche in a cast ce-
ment stone under twenty inches tall. As is fre-
quently found, the grave was outlined with stones.
Both the cement headstone and a wooden cross of
one-by-four-inch boards behind it bore the name of
the deceased: the wooden cross was painted, while
the cement had been scratched with a nail or other
sharp object before it hardened. Plastic flowers-a47 *
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current book.
Folk Art in Texas (Book)
This book describes popular folk art of Texas, including basket weaving, hat-making, yard art, sculptures, murals, cemetery art, quilt-making, tattoo art, and other miscellaneous folk art. The index begins on page 198.
Relationship to this item: (Has Format)
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Abernethy, Francis Edward. Folk Art in Texas, book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67647/m1/55/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.