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 directly from the maker in Oaxaca in 2019. Sra. Elipidia Chacon Ruiz told Shelton that her parents had also been potters in Oaxaca. She is in her 80s, and has taught her daughters and their children how to make the figures. She also told him it was the younger members of her family that came up with the idea of making skeletons in cars and racing cars.

Day of the Dead figure. Figure depicts a skeleton driving a black, yellow, and white 3-wheeled car with two skeletons in the back seat. The car has one wheel in front, and two in the back. Two side mirrors and a rear antennae are affixed to the car via thin metal rods. The steering controls are made from two curved metal rods. A rectangular, wedge-shaped sign on top of the car reads "TAXI" in red lettering.