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San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection.

Guitarra Conchera

San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection.
San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection.
Contact San Antonio Museum of Art, Registrar Department for rights and reproduction of this image. Photography by Peggy Tenison.

Guitarra Conchera

Artist:
Date: ca. 1930
Medium: Painted wood, cloth, wire, armadillo shell, and bone inlay
Dimensions:
l. 36 in. (91.4 cm); w. 10 in. (25.4 cm); d. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection
Object number: 85.98.691
Inscribed: Initialed (?): C.M.
Published References Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art / Veinte Siglos de Arte Mexicano (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1940), figs. 90 and 91, p. 127.
Published References Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art / Veinte Siglos de Arte Mexicano (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1940), figs. 90 and 91, p. 127.
Label Text
A guitarra conchera is a twelve-stringed variation of the mandolin that is used by Conchero dancers. Concheros are dance and ceremonial groups that originated in Mexico during the early colonial period (ca. 1520s–1530s). These groups are also known as the Chichimecas, Aztecas, or Mexicas, and currently can be found throughout Mexico and the United States. The resonance box of the guitarra conchera is made with the shell (concha, in Spanish) of an armadillo, a detail that may have given rise to the name conchero.

La guitarra conchera es una variación de la mandolina de doce cuerdas, usada por los concheros. Los concheros son grupos que se originaron en México durante la época virreinal temprana (ca. 1521–1530). Estos grupos también son conocidos como los Chichimecas, Aztecas o Mexicas, y se encuentran en México y en los Estados Unidos. La caja de resonancia de la guitarra conchera está hecha con la concha de un armadillo, un detalle que puede haber dado lugar al nombre del conchero.

(LA, 2020)
On view
In Collection(s)


The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.



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