Colonial begging brush in ebony wood, tortoiseshell and silver handle. Michoacán, Mexico, 18th century. Obverse ...

Colonial begging brush in ebony wood, tortoiseshell and silver handle. Michoacán, Mexico, 18th century. Obverse representing the Assumption of the Virgin in corn paste or polychrome "tatzingueni" and reverse painted with The Exaltation of the Holy Cross with Saint Michael and Saint John the Baptist and other saints. 35.5 x 24 x 9.5 cm. The indigenous people of the Mexican region of Michoacán, the Purépecha, made the sculptures of their pre-Hispanic gods using corn paste. The purpose of this procedure was the lightness of this type of sculpture to be able to take them to the battlefield, during the abundant internal wars of the various native peoples of Mexico. This technique was carried out by molding the paste from the crushed corn stalk. With the arrival of the Spanish, these pagan representations are prohibited, but the technique survives although it is already adapted to the new religion brought by the colonizers, Catholicism. From here on, images of Saints, Virgins and especially of Christs begin to be made using this technique.