La Catrina Calavera

Long, spindly stork legs made of wire flow into an extremely skimpy mini dress, revealing more than it conceals. Our most oddball La Catrina figure by far has been with us since our very first shopping trip and is a prime example of the wonderfully trashy side of Day of the dead folk art. The legs made of sturdy wire are firmly embedded in a protruding clay base, and La Catrina Calavera's dress and hat have been skillfully decorated with pink glitter. The handmade collector's figure is crowned by a magnificent skull with a long cigar and golden earrings. The arms can be carefully adjusted as desired and La Catrina's head, which is also attached with wire, can be tilted or turned to the side as desired. 

The figure of La Catrina Calavera was created at the beginning of the 19th century by the Mexican caricaturist José Guadalupe Posada. The illustration of the skeleton of the elegant high society lady with the sweeping hat was a sarcastic dig at the Mexican upper class and has become an omnipresent icon of Dia de Muertos over the course of the century. Posada's original La Catrina design consisted only of the skull and hat. The full-body figure as we know it today was later brought to life by Diego Riviera in his famous mural Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central.