elephants ceramics

Mexican artisan Javier Ramirez celebrates the Christian story of Noah's ark with this "tree of life" sculpture. In the center, Noah stands alongside a giraffe and an elephant, flanked by birds and butterflies. Floral designs surround the central composition. Each piece is diligently crafted from ceramic and painted by hand, assembled by steel wire.

Not intended for use with candles.

A nativity scene comes to life in this fifteen-piece ceramic set by members of Mexico's Aguilar Artisan Workshop. Each diminutive figurine is shaped by hand and hand-painted in bright colours. The set includes Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus with his manger, the three wise men, an angel, a shepherd, a woman bringing food, two burros, a goat, a camel, an elephant, and a lamb.

This sculpture is a feast for the eyes, full of hand-painted details. Artisan Magdaleno Fierro of Mexico handcrafts this ceramic sculpture in the shape of a tree. At the centre is an ark, with Noah, an elephant and a giraffe surrounded by green leaves, and blue, white, and yellow flowers, and terracotta-coloured doves with white accents fly about.

The tree of life is a quintessentially Mexican expression of folk art, often a biblical allegory told in clay.