Henequen Plant, Yucatán (from: Mexican Art - A Portfolio of Mexican People and Places)

Alfredo Zalce

This print is from a portfolio of ten black-and-white lithographs showing images of Mexican people engaged in daily activities, primarily labor and crafting, by ten different mid-century Mexican political printmakers and members of the Taller de Gráfica Popular print collective, printed on cream wove paper, each signed in pencil at lower right.

This lithograph by Zalce depicts a plant for processing henequen in Yucatan, Mexico. Henequen is an agave, a plant species native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. The leaves of Agave fourcroydes yield a fiber also called henequen which is suitable for rope and twine, but not of as high a quality as sisal. Alternative spellings are Henequin and Heniquen. It is the major plantation fiber agave of eastern Mexico, being grown extensively in Yucatán, Veracruz, and southern Tamaulipas. It is also used to make Licor del henequén, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink.

The Mexican state of Yucatán is known for its Gulf of Mexico beaches and Mayan ruins. Famed Chichén Itzá encompasses a massive pyramid, ball court and stone temples. Other Mayan archaeological sites include Ek Balam, noted for its well-preserved sculptures, and Uxmal, notable for its intricate facades. Yucatán’s capital and largest city, Mérida, has a rich Spanish colonial history.