CDHM The Miniature Way
June 2011, Issue 17
Dollhouse Tourism, Guatemala
Page 16

The Jade Museum in Antigua showcases the true skill of early artists. Jade was a rare and highly valued material in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, and the only source of the semi-precious stone was in Guatemala. Naturally because of its rarity, it was considered an elite good, and was usually shaped into symbolic, religious figurines. The Jade Museum opened its doors in 1974 to offer unique collectible pieces for view to the public, as well as replicas of Mayan art created by expert craftsmen.

Many of these pieces would look right at home in a dollhouse, but Guatemala is noted for another, tinier, doll's house potential: Mayan Worry or Trouble Dolls.

These teeny dolls usually come in a set of six inside a magical bag made of scraps of the colorful cotton weavings of the area. The tiny bag dwellers are fashioned from mere splinters of wood, sometimes with painted features or sometimes faceless, they are dressed in bits of colorful thread and more cloth scraps.