Fantastic Stretch

Arching its back in a fantastic stretch over its head, an adorable cat is carved of copal wood in this folk art alebrije figurine from Mexico. Artisan duo Zeny and Reyna create the alebrije, hand-painting the cat with intricate designs in tones of purple. The tail is removable.

Alebrijes are a fairly recent Mexican art form, attributed to Pedro Linares. Unconscious due to illness in 1936, he was presumed near death and yet his dreams were extremely vivid. He tells of a place where all was peaceful and quiet until all of a sudden there appeared a lion with an eagle's head, a rooster with bull's horns and a donkey with butterfly wings. They kept screeching 'alebrije, alebrije!' and Pedro began running away. He encountered a man who told him it was not yet his time to be there are and he should continue running towards the exit. In this dream Pedro climbed out of a window and regained consciousness.