I use these a lot on my own art work, and I have been asked by some folks to put some up for auction. These are made of rock-hard dental plaster - my wife is a dentist. They are hand painted in my shop. I usually just glue them to frames, but I am sure that there are all sorts of creative things that all you artists out there can do with them, so I am leaving that up to you. They have flat backs, for easy gluing. Check the ruler in the photo to estimate the size.

Day of Dead art, specifically the use of calaveras as a way of burlesquing persons and institutions which were normally protected by censorship laws is a tradition that goes back very far, with both roots in the European and Indian traditions of Mexico. The Indian roots are mostly with the dual nature deities, whose “death side” was indicated by skeletal figures - the most famous survivor of that tradition is “La Santisima Muerte”. She is rooted in the cult of an Indian goddess whom the Aztecs called Mictlancihuatl - the name means “Lady of Death”. The European roots go back to the danse macabre and to the work of Hans Holbien the Younger - of whom the great Mexican illustrator Guadalupe Posada might be said to have carried on his traditions and brought them back to life. Posada was “rediscovered” by Diego Rivera, who promoted Posada in order to attach his own shining star to the calavera artist’s legend. His fascination with Posada was culminated with the completion of the mural, “Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park” has a rendition of the Catrina - Posada’s most famous calavera - in the middle of the scene, and even has a portrait of Posada there. Posada’s interest in this subject, however, was probably brought about through the influence of the German Jewish exiled art critic Paul Westheim, who is the man who is really behind all of this interest in the Day of the Dead and in Posada. His book “La Calavera” is the most important book every written on the subject, in my opinion, and it pretty much sums up what Diego was originally exposed to when he was first enlighted on the the importance of Day of the Dead art in Mexico. This particular work of Posada can, more than any other, be said to carry on the tradition of the Danse Macabre.

The cost of these is $9.99 for each package of 40 skulls, which comes to about 25 cents each, plus $3.00 dollars shipping and handling and $1.00 additional shipping and handling for each additional package of 40. For 500 skulls the cost is 22 cents each plus 10 dollars shipping and handling, and for 1000 it is 21 cents each plus 10 dollars shipping and handling.