Crafting Tradition: The Making and Marketing of Oaxacan Wood Carvings

CHAPTER NINE: How Artisans Attain Success

147 h o w a r t i s a n s a t t a i n s u c c e s s HOW ARTISANS ATTAIN SUCCESS CHAPTER NINE In a couple of thought-provoking articles, Rudi ColloredoMansfeld (2001, 2002) observes that anthropologists, historians , and geographers have given two principal explanations for why certain artisans are especially successful in selling their pieces. Some writers (e.g., Annis 1987; Meisch 1998; Steiner 1994) note that the extraordinary talent, originality, energy, and business savvy of a few artisans enable them to gain advantage in a competitive marketplace. Others (e.g., Stephen 1991; Tice 1995) say instead that in some communities artisans’ differential success can be explained primarily in terms of access to and control of capital and labor. ColloredoMansfeld points out, however, that neither “selection by merit” nor “structural inequalities” can explain why in many communities a few artisans are much wealthier than any of their neighbors. According to Colloredo-Mansfeld, recent research on “winner-take-all” competitions in industrial countries may help explain why some artisans prosper a lot more than others. Some economists (e.g., Frank and Cook 1995) c r a f t i n g t r a d i t i o n 148 claim that mass media, new information technology, and low transportation costs have made it easier for consumers to learn about and obtain the “best” products and performers in particular categories. Since customers no longer have to “settle for second best” or accept local goods, the relative position of producers and performers crucially affects the allocation of awards. The earnings of the superstars in fields such as popular music and athletics, for example, are much greater than those of performers with only slightly less talent. Colloredo-Mansfeld examines income distributions in a number of craft-making communities from a winner-take-all perspective and concludes (2001:143) that in a growing variety of artisan markets a few operators realize big payoffs, but this is by no means a universal feature of craft production. He suggests that in some places exceptionally successful artisans are skilled at amassing social capital. For example, ColloredoMansfeld ’s examination of painters in Tigua, Ecuador (2001:144–146), indicates that artisans seeking to maintain high relative position must ceaselessly invest by maintaining their wardrobes, spending on their compadres, and participating in community fiestas and political meetings. This allows them to maintain the personal relations necessary to mobilize skilled labor. This chapter examines the artistic, economic, and personal skills that have enabled some Oaxacan wood-carving enterprises to become especially well-off by local standards. During the 1990s the most financially successful wood-carving workshops could be divided without much difficulty into two distinct groups recognized by both artisans and dealers. The first group of artesanos consisted of individuals and families who produce expensive pieces for sale primarily to dealers and collectors. These high-end carvers and painters ordinarily use only family labor and often make commissioned pieces that take a week or more to complete. The second group of comerciantes included entrepreneurs who employ salaried laborers and piece workers to make large numbers of inexpensive carvings for sale to tourists and low-end dealers. Few of these workshop operators earn much money from the sale of their own pieces. By 2000 comerciantes had become less important, and almost all successful wood-carvers were artesanos. This dichotomous typology of successful artisans is a simplification. A few artesanos occasionally hire labor and buy unpainted carvings. Some comerciantes are talented artisans who sell some expensive pieces they have made using only family labor. Jaime Santiago, one of the best-off La Unión artisans during the 1990s, fit into neither group because he sold large numbers of inexpensive pieces using only family labor. (Jaime abandoned 149 h o w a r t i s a n s a t t a i n s u c c e s s wood carving in fall 2000 and started a lumber business.) Nonetheless, almost all highly successful carving enterprises can fairly easily be classified as either artesanos or comerciantes. This chapter begins by considering what constitutes “success” for Oaxacan wood-carvers. I then examine the economic strategies of four successful artesanos—Miguel Santiago of Arrazola, Isidoro Cruz and María Jiménez of San Martín, and Gabino Reyes of La Unión. These talented carvers and painters earn...