Magdalena Fernandez

We met Magdalena Fernandez in March 2000.

Magdalena (right, shown with her sister Norma) runs a workshop in Lima, Peru, that employs 11 families. They make nativity ornaments in eggshells and market them through Manos Amigas.

Magdalena goes to the local bakery very early every morning. She cracks open every egg with a fingernail, so it leaves the opening precisely where she wants it. The bakery uses the eggs that day.

Magdalena or an assistant cleans the shells, then dips them in gesso, a thin plaster, shown here, to make them stronger. They add a string through a small hole at the top for hanging. They make each figure by hand – the originals freehand, then molds from the originals. They paint each shell and each figure in bright colors, then glue each figure in place.

It may look tedious, but the painters are skilled and quick. An average painter can paint an eggshell in 3 or 4 minutes. Two people can produce 100 eggs in a week.

Magdalena’s group also makes several variations on this theme. Some eggs get figures on the outside, and some figures go into small boxes with doors, called retablos.

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