mexico carvings

This alebrije elephant has news to share. Eugenia and Roberto Sosa handcraft this trumpeting elephant from copal wood with vibrant colours and a variety of detailed motifs. They capture the energy of his big announcement with trunk raised to the sky and ears and tail held aloft. Alebrijes, a Mexican folk art popularized in Oaxaca, are detailed, colourful, and fantastical wood carvings.

The natural shape of the branch dictates the alebrije's finished form. Thus no two are ever identical, and each one is a unique example of Mexican folk art.

The tail is removed for shipping.

A Mayan noblewoman sits atop a base in this sculpture from Guatemala, hand-carved of cedar wood in the style of traditional Jaina-style sculptures. Jaina refers to a small island off the coast of Mexico where a collection of pre-Columbian carvings and sculptures were found. Guatemalan artisan Nicolas Chavez Sojuel emulates the Jaina style, adding cultural details to the subject, such as an enlarged cranium, scars across the cheeks, and small bulges on the left shoulder, indicative of ancient Mayan body alterations that were popular at the time.