Hand-Painted Wood Alebrije Heron Sculpture from Mexico, "Majestic Heron"

Standing tall with its wings spread in a proud posture, this majestic heron sculpture will surely make an excellent addition to your home decor. Working in the Mexican folk art tradition of alebrijes, artisans Pablo and Lucy Mendez create the heron. They carve this impressive sculpture of copal wood and paint it 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.