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Description

Day of the Dead figure. Figure depicts a skeleton smoking a cigarette. A closed umbrella is hanging by its handle off of the skeleton's left arm. The curved handle is made from a thin, metal rod. The skeleton's clothes are painted on, and consist of a white shirt, red shoes, and black jacket, pants, and tie. The skeleton is wearing a black bowler hat on its head. Its head is attached to its body via a thin metal rod. The cigarette is fashioned from a thin metal rod, and painted white and red. The skeleton is standing on a thin, square red base.

History Of Use

Figures like these, made by local artisans, have commonly been sold in indigenous markets throughout Mexico, especially for Day of the Dead celebrations. The figures are used as domestic decorations and presents for children. In 2019 Shelton noted that both the large Oaxaca market and the Sonora market in Mexico City had far fewer stalls selling this type of figure than there had been twenty years earlier. One maker in Oaxaca said domestic demand had declined, and that there were fewer artisans as many of the older makers had died and their children hadn't taken-up the craft. Some of the artisans make skeletal figures encased in glass, to sell to tourists through folk art shops.

Narrative

Purchased from the Mercado de Sonora in Mexico City in 2019.