Multicolored Wooden Bird Alebrije Sculpture, "Orange Quetzal"

This marvelous quetzal alebrije is the original creation of Mexico's Gerardo and Teresa Ojeda. They carve the bird and its long feathers by hand from copal wood and paint them in meticulous detail. The Oaxacan folk art form dates back to the 1930s. A Mexican artist named Pedro Linares had dreams while ill, in which fantastical creatures rushed towards him shouting the nonsense word, "alebrije! alebrije!". When he woke from his fevered sleep, he was compelled to recreate the unusual creatures that he had seen in his dream.