This Mexican clay vase has a really cool figurine attached to it which based on pre-Columbian archeological finds. I buy these from the Indian woman who makes them, down in Central Mexico. She is keeping alive a family tradition dating back to before the time of Columbus. These items feature figurines known as “calaveras”, or Day of the Dead figures - skeletons - although the skeleton figure dates from Pre Hispanic times, and was a famous Indian motif. The design of these items is probably rooted in the Tolteca culture of the ancient Valley of Mexico so-called "Classic Period". You can use it as a vase, or a pitcher or creamer, or for any ritual that involves the use of skeletons.

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No two of these are exactly alike, but I have three styles. From the top, they are my "style one", a regular vase, which has a pouring spout, my "style two", with a lip around the edge, and my "style three", which is actually a traditional incense burner for burning copal incense or some other resin incense or cones.

Skeleton Vase Style One. $10.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling Quantity

Skeleton Vase Style Two. $10.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling Quantity

Skeleton Vase Style Three. $10.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling Quantity

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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. Rivera’s most masterful 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. Day of the Dead art is becoming more and more popular all the time.

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