MuseumMuseo Mesoamericano del JadeSan Cristóbal de Las Casas

Museum

THE MUSEUM Mesoamerican Jade is part of the cultural infrastructure of the JADE HOUSE, the leader in the knowledge and use of Jade in Mesoamerica.

In our workshops this gemstone from old fields in the mountains of Chalchihuitán and Motagua River basin, is worked and transformed by skilled artisans and designers, combined with gold and silver, achieve a high quality jewelry, marked with the seal of exclusivity and distinction.

The archaeological replicas are accompanied by informative identification cards and a certificate endorsed by the Institutions official Archaeological Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, as the origin of replication.

VISION
Retake on the enormous value this cultural, spiritual, economic, among others, that several ancient peoples in antiquity gave this stone mineral, implemented in the local community and visitors, the Culture of Jade as a high appreciation value to products originating in this gemstone.
MISSION
Jade Make an extraordinary remedy of our nature, an element for the benefit of our community, contributing to the economic, social and cultural development of all those involved in our activities.
GOAL
Being a leading institution Cultural Projection, involved in research, dissemination and protection of historical heritage, with the strength of the economic development industry that we promote.

Pakal Tomb

The climax of the Mesoamerican Jade Museum is a replica of the tomb of the eleventh ruler of Palenque Kinich Janaab Pakal, who died in 683 AD. The funeral, which is represented here by recreating the moment when the funeral is very colorful and we assume that the tomb when used 1300 years ago, was completely decorated.
The stucco of the lords of the night have been reinterpreted using the same techniques of plaster mixed with the sap of the tree Caulotes and Nopal.

Unscientific work that frames the work of professional archaeologists, but subject to all available information, it is appreciated the team effort in which they worked.

The essence of this work was started in the month of April 1999 and completed in a rush 30 months in October 2001.
The plaster used was a mixture of lime natural stone mixed with resin Caulotes tree cactus mixed with rubber cement and white 5%.
The paintings were tested with natural elements such as cochineal, but we encountered many problems that ultimately use acrylic dyes.
The carvings on the tomb and headstone were made in artificial stone made from marble, lime and portland concrete.
The weight of the headstone is 1200 kilos (1.2 tons) and the original is calculated in the 1st tonnes.

Jade History

JADE is a mystical gemstone that ancient peoples of Mesoamerica, was a symbol of immortality, eternity, power, love, the most precious of life and character which gave him divine.

It was known in the Nahuatl language, typical of the peoples of central Mexico chalchihuite and in the language of the Maya region as Yaxchuultun.
The Mayan glyph to designate noted jade with two concentric circles in its simple form.

For their part, sculptors and artists represented Aztecs adorned with a central circle with four small adjacent circles.

JADE in Chiapas is narrated in the chronicles of the Mexican people, where it is said that in 1498, Ahuizote eighth king Mexica, achieved the conquest of the territory of the Soconusco and peoples of Chamula and Zinacantán. The Chiapas villages were destroyed by this conquest and taken vassals, preventing their destruction to fulfill the promise of regular delivery chalchihuites, looking in the nearby mountains. Small nodules and serpentine jade have been found and analyzed since 1988 in outcrops in the basin of the river San Pablo coming down from the mountains by the municipalities Tzontehuitz Chenalhó and Chalchihuitán.
In San Cristobal de Las Casas, the doors are open a venue devoted to praising the beauty and history through art divine carved stone known as Jade.

In our museum spaces can admire objects and jewelry related to eight major Mesoamerican cultures of the area; Mocaya, Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec and Aztec Spondylus new room and Jewels of the Sea and the replicas Mausoleum of Kinich Janab Pakal, ruler of Palenque eleventh and the tomb of Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk Calakmul Jaguar Paw, as well as an exhibition of Olmec and Maya Ceramics, specialized library, laboratory.
In the Mesoamerican Jade Museum also have an exhibition of Olmec and Maya Ceramics, specialized library, laboratory analysis, educational area for children and youth, and a stylish facilities to acquire archaeological replicas and fine jade jewelry.

Jewelry

The Aztecs said that when love is durarero, hearts are jade.
A lover Maya could well tell your love, my love is as eternal as the jade.
In China, Confucius, the great eastern philosopher, wrote 500 years before Christ, the gold has its price, jade is invaluable.
Currently you hear the phrase, if you have a home you are a rich man, if you have a jade, you're a happy man.

But women all over the world we can say:
if they give you a house, you are a woman with being, if they give you a jade, you are a beloved woman.

The JADE HOUSE is the place where this beautiful stone work, full of historical and cultural meanings, making it the most exclusive jewelry, original designs produced by expert designers in combinations with gold, silver and goldfilled.

La Casa del Jade has the following permissions:

• Registro de Marca # 700213 por parte del Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial
• Registro de Reproductor Autorizado # 31.2(044) "00"/1499 del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y Las Artes.
• Registro de Reproductor Autorizado # 3.1.17.1 del Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala, Registro de Bienes Culturales.

Workshop

Currently in the workshops of the Jade House, the stones are subjected to a selection process. They are then placed in a machine that is equipped with a diamond saw to cut stone slabs of different thickness.

Once you have the board selects the best part is, above all, that does not contain impurities such as quartz, mica or crystallized carbon, taking care not work into a crack or fracture on natural stone.

Later we proceed to trace the desired design on the plate with a Jade mine aluminum, since aluminum has the advantage of easily worn and well marked on the plate of jade.

Then with a small diamond saw separates each piece individually, only in a straight line cutting as close as possible to the desired path.

The final design shape is obtained by carving with chisels and grinders diamond topaz, wearing carefully the stone until the desired shape.

Polishing is accomplished with four different sandpaper with very fine abrasive industrial diamond and silicon carbide.

To achieve the final gloss leather bands used previously moistened with applications of industrial diamond powder, thus achieving a natural glow by rubbing, which is guaranteed indefinitely.

It is very difficult to polish the jade natural since it is a very hard stone, but once that is achieved, this does not miss more scratch diamond, topaz, ruby or emerald.