We bid farewell to this romantic Valentine's weekend, remembering one of the symbols of aboriginal origin in Lanzarote, perhaps most representative of love, and the great woman and distinguished 20th century pottery maker who popularized them. The famous ‘Novios del Mojón’ of Dona Dorotea Armas Curbelo.
These two fired clay figures, representing a man and a woman with their sexual characters significantly exposed, were part of a marriage engagement ritual and also a symbol of fertility in Aboriginal culture.
Potter Dorotea Armas Curbelo, born in Muñique in 1899, lived and worked on the Camino de las Montañetas until the year of her death in 1997. As a child, Dorotea learned the clay technique from her grandmother and mother, collecting the legacy and heritage of the potters of El Mojón. This town of Teguise is recognized as one of the pottery centers with the greatest identity in Lanzarote. The work of these potters remained anonymous until, at the beginning of the 20th century, Dorotea's mother, the last link in this pottery family, moved to the neighboring town of Muñique.
Dorotea Armas Curbelo has been considered by many other illustrious and prominent potters and artisans from Lanzarote, as the precursor of this profession on the island. Without intending it, many were her disciples and followers. Among them, her own granddaughter, Mary of the Rosary Armasthe potter Marcial de Leon, or the Favorite Son of Lanzarote, Juan Brito, which is attributed the current name of ‘Los Novios del Mojón’, with which he recognized -in several public interviews- have baptized them like this, after meeting Dorotea.
The 'dolls' or 'Boyfriends of the Volcano', as she called them, were used by the aborigines of Lanzarote, before the arrival of the Europeans, to express their feelings and as a ritual of commitment to marriage. The man acquired a masculine figurine, in which his sexual attributes stood out, and gave it to his fiancée. If she accepted the engagement, he also offered her a figurine in which the female sexual organs were prominently displayed. Thus, the compromise was agreed.
Curious coincidence of life, this past February 14, Valentine's Day, was the date on which two years ago, the master craftsman, farmer, self-taught and potter of Lanzarote, Juan Brito, said goodbye to all of us.
Serve these words and a small recognition to remember, on these significant dates, these two great figures of our culture and identity. Doña Dorotea and Don Juan will continue creating together wherever they are.
Our affection and affection, in this sense, for the two families.
Bodegas Vega de Yuco
* Sources: Teguise | ULPGC | Lanzarote crafts | Digital Memory of Lanzarote
- ULPG scans. Bulletin Aguayro, interview with Dorotea in the 70's (Caja Insular de Ahorros Canarias).
- Photography- TVE reportage with an interview with Juan Brito and Dorotea Armas.
