Handcrafted Wood Alebrije Fox Sculpture in Blue from Mexico, "Cool Fox"

Working in the tradition of alebrijes, Mexican duo Zeny and Reyna create this cool sculpture of a fox. In a resting position, the sly animal is carved by hand of copal wood. This beautiful creature is diligently painted by hand with intricate motifs in tones of blue and purple.

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.