Hand-Painted Wood Alebrije Fish Figurine from Mexico, "Shimmering Fish"

Glittering with silver tones and vibrant, multicolored designs, an elaborate fish makes a mystical addition to your home decor with this figurine from Mexico. Pablo and Lucy Mendez, who carry on the tradition of alebrije folk art, work together to create the fish. They carve this figurine of copal wood and paint it by hand.

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.