Mundillo is a craft of handmade bobbin lace that is cultivated and honored on the island of Puerto Rico and Panama. [1]
Mundillo is a craft of handmade bobbin lace that is cultivated and honored on the island of Puerto Rico and Panama. [1]
The term 'mundillo' means 'little world', referring to the cylindrical pillow on which the lace maker ('Mundillista') weaves intricate designs. The decorative lace is created using wooden bobbins about the diameter of a pencil, which are wound with thread that is twisted and crossed to form a pattern. Depending on the pattern, as few as two dozen or as many as several hundred bobbins may be used.
In addition to its use as edging and borders on tablecloths and handkerchiefs, and for traditional shirt collars and trim, mundillo is also used to decorate items for special occasions, such as wedding dresses, baptismal gowns, and the cloths used to adorn religious icons. It is said that it was once common for lovers to exchange mundillo lace with romantic inscriptions. [2]
Bobbin lace was brought to Puerto Rico from Spain, [3] where it had thrived in major commercial markets as well as a cottage industry in Galicia, Castilla, and Catalonia. In Spain, lace is called encaje, because it was worked on separately and then joined to material (the Spanish word for "join" is encajar).
In the 20th century, lacemaking became an important economic activity by women of the island. Prior to WWII, lace provided income for many families to supplement the wages of men who had traveled off-island for work. [4] A revival of the tradition in the 1960s and 1970s engaged a new generation of lacemakers. [5] [4] In the 1990s, it was reported that 300 people were practitioners of mundillo on the island of Puerto Rico. [6]
In 2023, Rosa Elena Egipciaco was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for her work on preserving, designing, and teaching the lace tradition. [7]
In Moca, commonly known as the Capital or cradle of Mundillo, [8] there is an annual festival dedicated to the handmade lace as well as a museum, El Museo Del Mundillo. [9]
Mundillo is celebrated and featured in festivals around the island. [10] A workshop with kits to help train newcomers to mundillo was offered in Morovis in 2018. [11]
In 2021, 95-year-old "mundillera" artisan Nellie Vera Sánchez [12] was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship Award by the National Endowment for the Arts in honor of her work on this traditional craft. [13]
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted or crocheted lace. Other laces such as these are considered as a category of their specific craft. Knitted lace, therefore, is an example of knitting. This article considers both needle lace and bobbin lace.
Fajardo is a town and a municipality part of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area in Puerto Rico.
Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the pillow.
Moca is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located in the north-western region of the island, north of Añasco; southeast of Aguadilla; east of Aguada; and west of Isabela and San Sebastián. Moca is spread over 12 barrios and Moca Pueblo. It is part of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Morovis is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, north of Orocovis, south of Manatí, Vega Baja and Vega Alta; east of Ciales, and west of Corozal. Morovis is spread over 13 barrios and Morovis Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Orocovis is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the center of the island. Founded by Juan Rivera de Santiago in 1825. Orocovis is spread over 17 barrios. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. It's located north of Villalba and Coamo; south of Morovis and Corozal; southeast of Ciales; east of Jayuya; and west of Barranquitas
Francisco Ramírez Medina, was one of the leaders of "El Grito de Lares", the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico in 1868. He has thus far been the only person to be named "President of the Republic of Puerto Rico".
Puerto Rican Spanish is the variety of the Spanish language as characteristically spoken in Puerto Rico and by millions of people of Puerto Rican descent living in the United States and elsewhere. It belongs to the group of Caribbean Spanish variants and, as such, is largely derived from Canarian Spanish and Andalusian Spanish. Outside of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican accent of Spanish is also commonly heard in the U.S. Virgin Islands and many U.S. mainland cities like Orlando, New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Tampa, Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago, among others. However, not all stateside Puerto Ricans have knowledge of Spanish. Opposite to island-born Puerto Ricans who primarily speak Spanish, many stateside-born Puerto Ricans primarily speak English, although many stateside Puerto-Ricans are fluent in Spanish and English, and often alternate between the two languages.
Ángel Rivero Méndez was a Puerto Rican soldier, writer, journalist and a businessman. Rivero Méndez was a Captain in the Spanish Army during the Spanish–American War and is credited with ordering the first shot against the United States in Puerto Rico in said conflict. After the war, he became a US Citizen and upon his retirement, he wrote Crónica de la guerra hispano-americana en Puerto Rico, a chronicle of the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico. He is also credited with inventing a carbonated drink called Kola Champagne which is still sold today.
Puerto Rican art is the diverse historic collection of visual and hand-crafted arts originating from the island. The art of the Puerto Ricans draws from the various cultural traditions of the indigenous Taino people, as well as the history of the island as the subject of various other nations.
The Intentona de Yauco of March 24–26, 1897 was the second and final short-lived revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. It was staged by the pro-independence Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico in the southwestern municipality of Yauco, 29 years after the first unsuccessful revolt, known as the Grito de Lares. During the Intentona de Yauco, the current flag of Puerto Rico was flown on the island for the first time.
Rosa Elena Egipciaco, often referred to as the 'Queen of Mundillo', is a master Mundillo lacemaker and teacher of the Puerto Rican folk art. In addition to being part of the long Mundillo tradition of her hometown of Moca, Puerto Rico, she belongs to the much larger, much longer tradition of Spanish and European bobbin lacemaking.
José Gualberto Padilla, also known as El Caribe, was a physician, poet, journalist, politician, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence. He suffered imprisonment and constant persecution by the Spanish Crown in Puerto Rico because his patriotic verses, social criticism and political ideals were considered a threat to Spanish Colonial rule of the island.
Carlos Méndez Martínez is a Puerto Rican politician and former mayor of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico for 24 years.
The Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority is a water company and the government-owned corporation responsible for water quality, management, and supply in Puerto Rico, a US insular area. PRASA is the only entity authorized to conduct such business in Puerto Rico, effectively making it a government monopoly.
José Enrique "Kiko" Avilés Santiago is a Puerto Rican politician and past mayor of Moca. Avilés is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and has served as mayor since 2001.
Graciela Alexandra Márquez is a Venezuelan female volleyball player.
Carmen Irene Maldonado González is a Puerto Rican politician and mayor of Morovis, Puerto Rico. Maldonado is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party, has been serving as mayor since 2017 and was reelected again in 2020. As of 2019, she is the vice-president of her party.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico was an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Lace types | |||||||||
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| Needle lace |
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| Bobbin lace |
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| Tape lace | |||||||||
| Crocheted lace | |||||||||
| Machine-made lace | |||||||||
| Other handmade laces | |||||||||
