Pajalache Maiden at Mission San Juan Capistrano - San Antonio, TX, USA
N 29° 19.953 W 098° 27.321
14R E 552878 N 3244953
A clay figure of a woman brading her hair sits in a circle of stones near the chapel and bell tower inside the Mission San Juan Capistrano courtyard.
Waymark Code: WMAAA5
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/12/2010
Views: 3
The Pajalache Indians were the local tribe of Native Americans who lived in the area now known as Bexar County and San Antonio, TX at the time the Spanish missionaries began founding their missions. Mission San Juan Capistrano was moved from east Texas to the San Antonio area in 1731 and this mission was built to christianize the locals, thus the Pajalache Indians. Mission San Juan is the least preserved mission of the five historic Spanish missions for which San Antonio is so famous. As of Dec 2010, the side wall of the chapel has major structural cracks running horizontally through it so severe that steel rods are in place to prevent the doorways along the wall from collapsing. The bell tower holding three large bells is tilted off plumb toward the courtyard. However, dispite the disrepair of the church building, the figurative Indian woman molded of clay (terra cotta) sits within her stone circle braiding her waist-long hair while holding a flower in her hand. The sculpture is about two feet tall and is formed in a fashion reminiscent of ancient fertility goddesses of earlier and older pagan cultures. There is evidence of some minor repairs having been done to this clay sculpture, but since she sits only yards from the crumblings wall of the church, this iconic maiden is in more potential danger than needing a few cracks in her clay mended. Think Humpty Dumpty, except it is the wall that falls down here.
Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Pajalache Maiden
Figure Type: Human
Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Unknown
Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: unknown
Materials used: clay
Location: In the courtyard of Mission San Juan Capistrano, 9101 Graf Rd,. San Antonio, TX.
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