Tamales, Temples, and Trays: Material Traces of American Empire and Industry

• In Event: Material Culture Caucus: Heritage, Empire, and Design: Material Stories of the Caribbean and Central America

Abstract

World’s Fairs – perhaps the epitome of Martin Heidigger’s notion of “modernity” or the “age of the world picture” and sometimes also known as “Universal Expositions” or “Expos” – were large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. These fairs, however, often functioned as sites where race and/or gender were put on display, thereby making the “primitive” a visual spectacle that included objects, dwellings, and even human specimens. Facilitating this racial project depended greatly upon the pseudo-scientific and social concerns of the nineteenth century that were subsequently incorporated into the representational practices of twentieth-and twenty-first century institutions. At the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, Mexico sought to showcase its culture and identity through the construction of the Aztec Palace, a pavilion intended to present a modern interpretation of Mexico’s glorious pre-Hispanic heritage while also advertising the country’s economic progress. Four years later, the World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago from May 1 to October 30, 1893, was set to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World. Again, Mexico sought to show its progress and cultural identity, this time by displaying examples of its natural resources, various agricultural products, and paintings by prominent Mexican artists such as José María Velasco and Leandro Izaguirre. In general, the fairs represented a unique aspect of the age of modern industrial capitalism – fabricated environments created to sell impressions and manipulate desire while also showcasing the technological innovations (as well as commercial potential) of American industry and evolving ideas of design, craftsmanship, and national identity. Included in the Chicago exposition was an Aztec-inspired silver tray made by Tiffany Co. as well as plaster casts of Mayan temple ruins, which Frank Lloyd Wright saw as he walked along the Midway(and would later influence his own architectural designs), thereby also tapping into the nineteenth-century search for America’s roots in its pre-European cultures. This paper aims to examine the genesis behind the creation of a selection of material culture objects, analyzing how they embodied both artistry and commercial ambition, but also notions of empire and links to an international economy.

Author

• Heidi C Nickisher, Rochester Institute of Technology