Portuguese fonts • Oaxacan candles • French gourds

Nice things to look at.

From the collection: Portuguese type specimens.

“I first heard about Letterform Archive in 2018. I was trying to locate a Portuguese type specimen for an article I later presented at the 9th Typography meeting in Tomar, Portugal. During my research, I found a reference to the foundry I was researching in the book Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles, which documented the extensive collection of Jan Tholenaar, a Dutch bibliophile who gathered an impressive collection of books, type specimens, pamphlets, and other ephemera throughout his life.”

António Fonseca, Letterform Archive.

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A candle-making matriarch.

“For four generations, the rich smell of honey and burning wood has filled the quiet street of the Oaxacan town of Teotitlán del Valle where Casa Viviana sits. Behind the modest brick-front building, Doña Viviana Alávez is the matriarch who presides over the crafting of elaborate, ceremonial beeswax candles that the Mexican village is known for. At 74, Doña Viviana is both a trailblazer and the guardian of this timeless artisanal tradition whose origins lie in an ancient wedding ritual.”

Xóchitl Gonzalez and Sam Youkilis, VOGUE.

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Galeux d’Eysines.

“The skin transforms from green to salmon-peach when ripe and is covered in peanut-shell like protrusions. When maturing, the sugars in the flesh leech through the skin and this process is what causes the unique swelling, or wart-like bumps. As the sugar content grows, the more nodes appear on the outside of the squash and the sweeter the squash will become…. Its name, a nod to its unique appearance and point of origin, is believed to have originally been known as Borde Galeux d’ Eysines, which in French translates to “embroidered with scabs from Eysines.” Today the squash is still favored for its unusual appearance, and home gardeners in the United States have discovered unique ways to personalize the fruits. The young squash can be lightly etched with words or designs, and as the squash matures, it will fill in the etching with warts.”

SpecialtyProduce.com.