LOS CHARROS CONTRABANDISTAS JUEGO DE DADOS [caption title]

[Posada, José Guadalupe]

Published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Mexico, 1913

About this Item

Pictorial broadside, 12 x 16 inches. Two long closed tears with expert repairs on verso (no loss of text), one small hole in lower center (no loss of text), some chipping and wear to edges. Very good overall. Zinc etched gameboard presenting a variation on the game of the goose (or "juego de la oca"), here featuring Mexican cowboy smugglers in charro outfits on horseback ("Los Charros Contrabandistas"), lassoing the sixty-four spaces on the board. Players roll the dice and make their way from the scorpion in the first space at the top left, and past the skull and crossbones in the sixty-fourth space to the charro at the lower right. Each space portrays a different image, including acrobats (19, 47), a matador (54), a steamship (41), a cyclist (44), and a blacksmith (35). The accompanying text at the upper right provides rules to special combinations of rolls, as well as potential penalties and exceptions. For instance, several spaces depict thieves (13, 18, 31), and if a player lands on one of these spaces, they lose points. Also, there are five spaces depicting deer; every time a player lands on one of these spaces, they get an extra point; if they land on all five, they immediately win the game. Conversely, if a player lands on the final space, "la Calavera," they lose the game. An illustration in the lower left shows a group of children playing the game. José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was one of the most important (and popular) artists of late 19th-century Mexico. Working chiefly with publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, his some 20,000 images can be found in countless newspapers, chapbooks, and books, often in the form of satirical anti-governmental cartoons lifting up the poor and oppressed and critiquing the ruling class. Posada worked across numerous styles, though is now perhaps best known for seemingly naive (but quite sophisticated) depictions of current events that sought to undermine the supposed "order and progress" of Porfirio Díaz's presidency. He is equally well known for his "calaveras" (skulls and skeleton caricatures), which he did not invent, but popularized to such an extent that most modern depictions of Mexican skulls owe some debt to Posada. Called the Mexican Goya and Mexican Daumier, Posada influenced Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco along with other prominent muralists, and his impact on Mexican printmaking carries on today. A rare and charming example of one of Mexico's most prominent artists. Ron Tyler, ed., POSADA'S MEXICO 75. Seller Inventory # WRCAM57599

Bibliographic Details

Title: LOS CHARROS CONTRABANDISTAS JUEGO DE DADOS [...

Publisher: Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Mexico

Publication Date: 1913