Wood Alebrije Hummingbird Ornament from Mexico, "Natural Flight"

Handcrafted of copal wood in the traditional style of alebrije sculptures, this delightful hummingbird brings beauty and grace to your tree this holiday season. Jesus and Roxana Hernandez of Mexico create the ornament, which is painted by hand. Small parts are separated for shipping to protect from breakage.

Alebrijes are a fairly recent Mexican art form, attributed to Pedro Linares. Unconscious due to illness in 1936, he was presumed near death and yet his dreams were extremely vivid. He tells of a place where all was peaceful and quiet until all of a sudden there appeared a lion with an eagle's head, a rooster with bull's horns and a donkey with butterfly wings. They kept screeching "alebrije, alebrije!" and Pedro began running away. He encountered a man who told him it was not yet his time to be there are and he should continue running towards the exit. In this dream Pedro climbed out of a window and regained consciousness.