Mexicali Rose: Tooled Leather Designs in Early California, Fact and Fiction

A.

I am a great admirer of Jo Mora as an artist, an illustrator, and an author. I really love his work and have for many years. However, I also believe that he is the source of quite a few misconceptions about early Californian material culture. One in particular is his interpretation of the kinds of leather tooling patterns seen in early California.

B.

Even though Mora must have had many opportunities to observe early examples of leather tooling that were present in museums, missions, and private collections, in his artwork he usually showed designs based on the kinds of work available in the 20th century - especially those featuring rambling, free-form compositions of naturalistic roses and foliage. See for example his illustration, "Juez de Campo," from his masterpiece work, "Californios, The Saga of the Hard-Riding Vaqueros, America's First Cowboys," (1949).

C.

I grew up in California and remember seeing this kind of work many times, particularly on a purse my mother bought in Tijuana in the 1940s. I still have that purse, though not a photograph of it. But it is very similar to the one I show here. Apparently Santa Barbara was also a center of this style of tooling by at least the early 1900s.

D.

However, I am convinced that very different styles of tooling were in use in Mexican era California (1822-1847) than the ones Mora so loved. The compositions found on imported items such as saddles and botas were much more stylized, often fitting into the framework of boundary lines and the motifs included symmetrical flowers, tear-drops, crescents, etc.

 E.

The rambling, naturalistic designs shown by Mora simply do not appear to have existed in either Mexico or California at this time, and probably nowhere else in the Hispanic West.

Shown here are a Sinaloan saddle said to date to the 1840s, but from the first half of the 19th century, more or less, I believe [https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/mexican-sinaloa-saddle-on-a-jineta-pattern-tree-ca-1840-180253], my drawing of a bota in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Sutter's Fort Costume Manual), and a coraza in the collection of Monterey State Historic Park.

Even simpler, more stylized designs are found on tooled leather that appears to have been made in "ante Gringo "California. More about that soon.

Images:

A. "Juez de Campo" by Jo Mora (1949)

B. Sinaloan Saddle, circa 1850 - Cowan's Auctions

C. Vintage Mexican Leather Purse, circa 1950

D. Imported Mexican Bota (Legging) - Sutter's Fort Costume Manual.

E. Tooled and Embroidered Saddle Cover (Coraza), Probably Mexican before 1860 (California State Parks)