Carved of copal wood, a watchful fox is depicted in this charming alebrije figurine. Mexican duo Zeny and Reyna design this figurine, which is hand-painted with metallic motifs over its stark black body. Small parts are separated for shipping to protect from breakage.

   The alebrije tradition started with Mexico City papier mache artisan Pedro Linares (1906-1992). When he was 30, he fell into a coma due to serious illness. While he was unconscious, he dreamed he was caught between the land of the living and the dead; the place looked like a forest and was populated with creatures with body parts belonging to different animals. The beings repeatedly uttered the word alebrije. Upon recovering, Linares recreated these figures in bright colors using papier mache techniques and called them alebrijes. His work became famous and was one of the main influences of artisans in the state of Oaxaca who began crafting alebrijes of their own using traditional wood carving methods.
 

Product Features: 

• Dimension: 5.5 " L x 5.3" W x 2.4 " H
• Weight:  5.3  
• Color: Black
• Material: Copal wood
• 0.1936
• Warning: Choking Hazard. Small parts -- not for children under 3 years.
• Hand-crafted item -- color, size and/or motif may vary slightly
• Made in Mexico

Story Behind the art:
Hola! We're Zeny Fuentes and my wife, Reyna Piña. We're from a small town in Oaxaca, says Zeny by way of introduction. We both come from families dedicated to carving and painting wood in a style known as alebrije. Our parents were master carvers and they taught each of us when we were children. We studied different things too, but what we really like to do is crafting alebrijes and continuing our families' traditions.I still recall the first piece I ever carved. It was a duck and it got sent to the Museum of Light in San Antonio! Since then, I've had the good fortune to exhibit my work in different museums and galleries in the U.S. — the first one was in Arizona when I was only 14 years old. Now Reyna and I exhibit together, and some of our alebrijes are on display in Israel and in Germany.Our work has also been sponsored by a prestigious paper company that depicts our wood sculptures on their stationary.Reyna and I have different styles when it comes to alebrijes and, when we got married, we decided to combine our ideas, creating our own version — our artistic identity where color and sculpture have a specific meaning. You could say we conceived a life filled with colors and a love for nature as well as for our huge cultural heritage. And now we share our love for this art with our children, who will preserve their family legacy.What we have taken from our culture is that we left the trees and recovered our own life, which is evident in every finished sculpture.Our materials include reclaimed tree trunks and branches as well as roots from dead trees, or the ones that we find in fields and rivers. We use the dust that comes off after sanding a piece to fill in the cracks that a piece of wood may have, and we use the thorn of a maguey to paint the more delicate motifs. Each alebrije is crafted by hand.The government of Oaxaca and the Tourist Ministry have both recognized our work and named us master wood artisans and our efforts to promote this cultural art form across the borders. 

The handmade touch of artisan skill creates variations in color, size and design. If buying two of the same item, slight differences should be expected. Note: Color discrepancies may occur between this product and your computer screen.

Imported