Figure

Figures like these, made by local artisans, have commonly been sold in indigenous markets throughout Mexico, especially for Day of the Dead celebrations. The figures are used as domestic decorations and presents for children. In 2019 Shelton noted that both the large Oaxaca market and the Sonora market in Mexico City had far fewer stalls selling this type of figure than there had been twenty years earlier. One maker in Oaxaca said domestic demand had declined, and that there were fewer artisans as many of the older makers had died and their children hadn't taken-up the craft. Some of the artisans make skeletal figures encased in glass, to sell to tourists through folk art shops.

Purchased from the Mercado de Sonora in Mexico City in 2019.

Day of the Dead figure. Figure depicts a skeleton playing a yellow guitar. Its clothes are painted on, and consist of a black shirt, pants and shoes, and white neck decoration. Six white dots are painted up the length of both pant legs. The skeleton is wearing a black sombrero with a wide brim and pointed cap, as well as a red sash over its left shoulder. The skeleton is standing on a thin, red, rectangular base. Its head is attached to its body via a thin metal rod.