may jewelry

Wearing a magnificent headdress and jewelry, this Maya man sits with an offering pot in this original sculpture by artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association. The Mexican artisans, expert in pre-Hispanic art and history, now venture into the creation of original characters inspired by historical facts. They handcraft the highly-detailed sculpture with yellow clay from the state of Oaxaca, and finish the Maya personage with brightly colored details.

Discarded thick wires, metal sheets, pulleys and screws become a train engine under the ingenious creativity of Mexico's Armando Ramírez. Once the main frame of the engine is built, Ramírez transforms a car bearing and spark plugs into characteristic train parts. Ramírez recycles bendix parts from a car's electric system into the train's cauldrons, which are joined together with thick wire and a brush holder from a car's electric system.

Please note it is the artist's intention not to give his sculptures a fine polished finish, therefore smudges and scratches may be present.

A Mayan midwife is realized in cedar atop a pinewood base. Guatemalan artist Nicolas Chavez Sojuel hand-carves this sculpture, detailing the midwife's elaborate jewelry and headdress. She sits with legs crossed, a child held close to her breast. For the artist, this sculpture presents a view of quotidian Mayan life, as the midwives would often take their children along with them as they worked.

Guatemalan artisan Nicolas Chavez Sojuel designs a sculpture to depict a Mayan midwife standing atop a base, carving it by hand of cedar wood. Small details, such as the decorations on her clothing, the jewelry she wears, and her elaborate headdress are realized with a keen eye. In ancient Mayan society, Mayan noblewomen and midwives often wore decorative headdresses in order to accommodate enlarged craniums due to body alteration practices.