This vibrant, multicolored snail is hand-carved of copal wood and painted with an array of intricate dotted designs, carrying on the tradition of Mexican alebrije sculptures. Pablo and Lucy Mendez work together to create this addition to your home decor, capturing the lovely creature with excellence. Small parts are separated for shipping to protect from breakage.

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.

• materials: Copal wood
• Signed by the artist
• Hand-crafted item -- color, size and/or motif may vary slightly
• Some assembly required