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{{Short description|Spanish women ceramist}}{{Family name hatnote|de Armas|Curbelo|lang=Spanish}}
'''Dorotea de Armas Curbelo''' (6 February 1899 – 17 June 1997) was a Spanish ceramist who was known for introducing traditional [[Guanches|Canary Island aboriginal]] figurines in the iconography of her pottery works.<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |title=Biografias de Lanzarote |url=http://www.biografiasdelanzarote.com/biografia.php?criterio=28 |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=www.biografiasdelanzarote.com |archive-date=2021-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511154818/http://www.biografiasdelanzarote.com/biografia.php?criterio=28 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/senderos-islenos/senderos-islenos-novios-del-volcan/3511695/ |title=Senderos isleños – Los novios del volcán |date=5 March 2016 |type=Television production |language=es |publisher=[[RTVE]] |access-date=2020-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704130231/http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/senderos-islenos/senderos-islenos-novios-del-volcan/3511695/ |archive-date=2016-07-04 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== Life ==
Dorotea was born on 6 February 1899 in Muñique, a small village next to [[Tinajo (municipality)|Tinajo]] in [[Lanzarote]], and died on 17 June 1997.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perdomo |first=Mario Alberto |url=https://jable.ulpgc.es/jable/lancelot.suplementos/2002/09/01/0286.htm |title=Adiós a Doña Dorotea |date=27 June 1997 |volume=727 |language=es |access-date=15 September 2024 |archive-date=15 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915192251/https://jable.ulpgc.es/jable/lancelot.suplementos/2002/09/01/0286.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> She received her training as a potter from her mother. She started modeling clay and making different objects as a child at the age of 12.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coloma Gil |first=Lirios |date=16 January 1986 |title=Una vida dedicada a la creación: La Dorotea de Armas: Me "mortifica" enseñar |url=https://jable.ulpgc.es/jable/la.voz.de.lanzarote/1986/01/16/0012.htm |journal=La Voz de Lanzarote |pages=12–13 |access-date=15 September 2024 |archive-date=15 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915192312/https://jable.ulpgc.es/jable/la.voz.de.lanzarote/1986/01/16/0012.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=HMKhYDpEvv8|time=294|title=Interview of Dorotea de Armas by Canarian folklorist Florián Corujo (‘Chácara y Tambor’ - Tele Volcán)}}</ref> She also learned from her mother how to select the clay and how to work it to make different shapes.
She continued the profession of her mother and grandmother as a potter, traditionally known as {{Langx|es|locera|label=none}}, specializing in ceramic works that incorporate the traditions of the Canary Islands. She took up the pottery heritage of El Mojón, where this craft of ''locera'' has a long tradition and is recognized as the village that best represents the pottery of Lanzarote.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWN9CF8oLoU |title=Alfarería popular de Muñíque, Lanzarote |date=1992 |last=Consejería de Industria, Comercio y Consumo del Gobierno de Canarias |type=Video |language=es |access-date=2024-09-15 |via=YouTube |archive-date=2020-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217135829/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWN9CF8oLoU |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNdQ7UCYO0I |title=La cerámica de El Mojón (2006) |date=2021-04-09 |last=Asociación para el Desarrollo Rural de Lanzarote |access-date=2024-09-15 |via=YouTube |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915102540/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNdQ7UCYO0I |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Works ==
Robert Verneau, in a work published in 1891, where he recounts the five years of stay that this author spent in the Canary archipelago (1876–1877 and 1884–1887), is the first researcher to address the subject of the ceramics of Lanzarote.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Verneau |first=René |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96131492/f91.image |title=Cinq années de séjour aux Iles Canaries |date=1891 |publisher=A. Hennuyer |location=Paris |pages=149–150 |language=EN }}</ref> He acquired a complete collection of typical traditional pottery of Lanzarote that he later donated to the [[Musée de l'Homme]] in Paris, France.<ref name=":4" /> The first archaeological study of this collection is due to the French researcher Denise Robert. Robert describes these ceramics as "popular", of rural origin, made by women in villages in the interior of the Canary islands, mainly for daily, common and domestic use, both for fetching water and for preparing and serving family meals (pots, trays, bowls, plates, etc.), used by peasants and city dwellers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pageard |first=Robert |date=1960 |title=Poteries récentes des îles Canaries |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jafr_0037-9166_1960_num_30_1_1915?q=Poteries%20r%C3%A9centes%20des%20%C3%AEles%20Canaries |journal=Journal des Africanistes |language=fr |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=15–55 |doi=10.3406/jafr.1960.1915 |access-date=2024-09-15 |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915192253/https://www.persee.fr/doc/jafr_0037-9166_1960_num_30_1_1915?q=Poteries%20r%C3%A9centes%20des%20%C3%AEles%20Canaries |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In the 1970s, archaeologist González Antón studied the traditional pottery of the Canary Islands. Describing the ceramic production of El Mojón, he highlighted the work of Dorotea de Armas, the only remaining potter in Muñique, and her animal figures, such as camels, as well as human figures called ''novios''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=González Antón |first1=Rafael |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=61358 |title=La alfarería popular en Canarias |last2=Lorenzo Perera |first2=Manuel J. |date=1977 |publisher=Cabildo de Tenerife |isbn=978-84-600-0928-3 |location=Santa Cruz de Tenerife |access-date=2024-09-15 |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915192253/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=61358 |url-status=live }}</ref> Later studies also mentioned the work of de Armas.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Vossen |first1=Rüdiger |title=Guía de los alfares de España (1971–1973) |last2=Seseña |first2=Natacha |last3=Köpke |first3=Wulf |date=1975 |publisher=Editora Nacional |isbn=978-84-276-1293-8 |series=Sollo de arte |location=Madrid |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sempere |first=Emili |title=Rutas a los alfares: España-Portugal |date=1982 |publisher=Les Punxes |isbn=978-84-300-5388-9 |location=Barcelona |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Guerrero Martín |first=José |title=Alfares y alfareros de España |date=1988 |publisher=Ediciones del Serbal |isbn=978-84-7628-039-3 |edition= |series= |location=Barcelona}}</ref>
The production of Dorotea is a prime example of this traditional rural pottery. Her search for the origins of the island's pottery led her to discover the ceramic figurines used by the aborigines of the Canary Islands in their rituals and daily life.<ref name=":3" /> She would select the clay and keep it moist enough to make it flexible enough to add black volcanic sand, which would allow her to shape it.<ref name=":3" /> After shaping the piece, she baked it in fire pits next to her house in Camino de las Montañetas.<ref name=":0" /> The 1990 documentary "Lanzarote – Isla de los Volcanes", produced by Geoffrey Perfect, shows the creative and production process of de Armas.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdxr8_FSpmo |title=Doña Dorotea la alfarera in ''Lanzarote. Island of the Volcanoes''(1990) |date=1990 |last=Perfect |first=Geoffrey |type=Video |language=es |access-date=2024-09-15 |via=YouTube |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915102520/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdxr8_FSpmo |url-status=live }}</ref>
She produced pottery for domestic use, toys and, most innovatively, ''idolillos'', which reinterpreted the traditional Canarian ''idolillos''. Figurines, such as the three-legged camels, along with figures such as the bride and groom, reinterpret the typical figures of the [[Guanches]], the native inhabitants of the Canary Islands. Among the latter, ''Los Novios del Mojón'' stand out, which brought her fame beyond the Canary Islands.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=16 February 2020 |title=Los Novios del Mojón de Dorotea Armas Curbelo |url=https://vegadeyuco.com/los-novios-del-mojon-o-del-volcan/ |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=Vegadeyuco.com |language=es |archive-date=2020-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001074927/https://vegadeyuco.com/los-novios-del-mojon-o-del-volcan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
De Armas stands out for her craftsmanship and traditional pottery modeling.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Herrera Piqué |first=Alfredo |date=1977 |title=Doña Dorotea de Armas Curbelo, ceramista de Muñique (Lanzarote) |url=https://bk.memoriadelanzarote.com/media/docs/items/20110706095518DOA-DOROTEA.pdf |journal=Aguayro |language=es |volume=88 |via=Memoria de Lanzarote |access-date=2024-09-15 |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915102500/https://bk.memoriadelanzarote.com/media/docs/items/20110706095518DOA-DOROTEA.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> De Armas' work is appreciated by admirers of this Lanzarote tradition as a renovator of the potter's craft, incorporating into her work the traditional forms of the island's aboriginal inhabitants, from before the arrival of Europeans to the islands.
De Armas received several awards for her work during her lifetime, and also posthumously as the appointment of Artisan of the Year 2017, by the [[Cabildo insular]] de [[Gran Canaria]]. She passed on her knowledge to many people who have continued her work, including her granddaughter Maria Dolores de Armas and her son Juan Jesús Brito Paz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breda |first=Nicoletta |url=https://www.culturalanzarote.com/wp-content/uploads/Reconociendo-a-C%C3%A9sar-interior.pdf |title=Re.conociendo a César – conversaciones con Artesanos |date=2019 |publisher=Cabildo de Lanzarote |language=es |chapter=Rosario Armas y Marcial De León, alfarería tradicional |access-date=2024-09-15 |archive-date=2020-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922122457/http://www.culturalanzarote.com/wp-content/uploads/Reconociendo-a-C%C3%A9sar-interior.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Among her students is Juan Brito Martin, another self-taught ceramist from Lanzarote, who has used ''Los Novios del Mojón'' as a reference in many of his creations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=El homenaje póstumo a Dorotea de Armas abre la XXIX Feria Insular de Artesanía |url=https://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/actualidad/cultura/el-homenaje-postumo-a-dorotea-de-armas-abre-la-xxix-feria-insular-de-artesania_119976_102.html |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=La Voz de Lanzarote |date=8 September 2017 |language=es |archive-date=2024-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915085423/https://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/actualidad/cultura/el-homenaje-postumo-a-dorotea-de-armas-abre-la-xxix-feria-insular-de-artesania_119976_102.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, the Cabildo of Lanzarote paid tribute in [[Mancha Blanca]] to Dorotea de Armas with the inauguration of the sculpture "Homenaje a la artesana doña Dorotea", a work by local artist Rigoberto Camacho Pérez.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-05-31 |title=Homenaje a la artesana ceramista Dorotea Armas con una escultura en Mancha Blanca |url=https://www.laprovincia.es/lanzarote/2022/05/31/homenaje-artesana-ceramista-dorotea-armas-66721927.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=La Provincia – Diario de Las Palmas |language=es |archive-date=2022-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610143407/https://www.laprovincia.es/lanzarote/2022/05/31/homenaje-artesana-ceramista-dorotea-armas-66721927.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-30 |title=El Cabildo inaugura una escultura en homenaje a la artesana Dorotea de Armas en Mancha Blanca |url=https://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/actualidad/sociedad/cabildo-inaugura-escultura-en-homenaje-artesana-dorotea-armas-en-mancha-blanca_212356_102.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=La Voz de Lanzarote |language=es |archive-date=2022-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609121336/https://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/actualidad/sociedad/cabildo-inaugura-escultura-en-homenaje-artesana-dorotea-armas-en-mancha-blanca_212356_102.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Notable work ==
[[File:Lanzarote Novios del Mojón.jpg|thumb|The traditional clay figurines ''Novios del Volcán'' created by Dorotea de Armas can still be found today in tourist shops.]]
One of the most representative works of De Armas is the ''Novios del Mojón'', also known as ''Muñecos'' or ''Novios del Volcán'', as De Armas calls them.<ref name=":12" /> They are two clay figurines representing a man and a woman, with an exaggerated representation of their sexual attributes, inspired by archaeological artifacts found in sites from the island's pre-Hispanic period. According to tradition, during betrothal ceremonies, men offered the male figure to offer it to their fiancées, and if the engagement was accepted, women responded by giving a female figurine.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=4 January 2019 |title=Los novios de El Mojón. Tradición de Lanzarote |url=http://canariosenelmundo.com/actualidad/19174-2018-01-04/ |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=Canarios en el Mundo |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":32" />
[[José Saramago]] wrote his novel [[The Cave (novel)|''A Caverna'']], inspired by the clay figurines created by De Armas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=SER |first=Cadena |date=2022-04-23 |title='La caverna' de José Saramago, el regalo de la SER para celebrar el Día del Libro |url=https://cadenaser.com/2022/04/23/la-caverna-de-jose-saramago-el-regalo-de-la-ser-para-celebrar-el-dia-del-libro/ |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=cadena SER |language=es-ES |archive-date=2022-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423073022/https://cadenaser.com/2022/04/23/la-caverna-de-jose-saramago-el-regalo-de-la-ser-para-celebrar-el-dia-del-libro/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=del Rio |first=Pilar |url= |title=La intuición de la isla: los días de José Saramago en Lanzarote |date=2022 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-628-7525-77-1 |language=es}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Spanish women ceramists]]
[[Category:People from Lanzarote]]
[[Category:Artists from the Canary Islands]]