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I ship DHL Express worldwide with tracking, free of charge, on every order. For buyers in the United States and Canada I also prepay customs clearance and all import duties and taxes before the package leaves Guadalajara, so you pay the listed price and nothing further on delivery. Everywhere else, shipping is still free and import tax is paid on arrival — see below, it is straightforward and I am glad to work it out with you.
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT
A stalking cat alebrije, hand carved from copal wood and hand painted by the Taller Zeny Fuentes y Reyna of San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca. I bought it directly from the family and it carries their gold signature label on the underside.
The animal is caught mid-stalk: shoulders dropped, head low and turned slightly toward you, forepaws planted wide, hindquarters raised, tail thrown up in a long S-curve that rises five inches off the surface. It is a pose that only works if the carver understands the animal, and this one does.
The painting is where this piece separates itself. A full rainbow gradient runs the length of the spine and continues out into the tail, where it shifts through teal into deep purple. Around it sit four distinct pattern registers — blue and white greca step-fret banding, rows of diamonds in turquoise, lavender and rust, zigzag borders, and a dense field of triangular punteado across the head and ears. The muzzle is lavender, the ears are aubergine outside and glazed teal inside, the eyes are set with amber irises. The legs run cream with fine blue caracol spirals and orange claw strokes. Every dot of it is applied by hand with a maguey cactus thorn, the traditional Zapotec method. Count the separate motifs and you are past a dozen on a piece thirteen inches long.
THE FAMILY WHO MADE THIS
Zeny Fuentes is a fourth-generation Zapotec woodcarver. He learned at seven years old from his father Epifanio Fuentes, widely regarded as the most famous carver San Martín Tilcajete has produced, and from his grandfather Emilio Fuentes. Zeny carves and prefers to paint his own figures. His wife Reyna Piña Ramírez develops the painted designs, drawing on nature, and has passed that work to their daughters, who now paint under the family name. The taller maintains its own reforestation planting of copal trees, the raw material of the art. Their work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across Mexico and the United States, and the Walt Disney Company commissioned pieces from them for display at Epcot Center in Orlando.
Look at the last photograph in this listing. The two women standing in the family workshop are Reyna and one of her daughters. I met the whole family, including the patriarch, and I buy from them directly. There is no middleman between this piece and the people in that photograph.
MEASUREMENTS
13 in long, ears to tail end · 5 in high to the top of the tail · 3 in body height at the shoulder · 4 in body width · 6 in paw stance, front and rear
(33 x 12.7 x 10 cm)
CONDITION
New, direct from the workshop. No chips, no losses, no paint flaking. Colors are as-applied and unfaded.
A NOTE ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Some photographs place the piece against backgrounds chosen to give a sense of setting and scale. Backgrounds are not included in the sale.
COLLECTOR APPRAISAL — GALLERY REPLACEMENT VALUE
$595
That figure is retail replacement through a folk art gallery in Santa Fe, San Miguel de Allende or Mexico City, offered for insurance and estate purposes. It is a different question from what the piece is listed at here.
ITEM SPECIFICS
Maker: Taller Zeny Fuentes y Reyna, San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca
Material: Copal wood, acrylic
Technique: Hand carved, hand painted, maguey thorn punteado
Subject: Stalking cat
Period: Contemporary
Condition: New
Signed: Gold family label, underside
SHIPPING AND DUTIES
Free DHL Express worldwide with tracking, packed professionally by Diseños de Cartón in Colonia Americana — please open the box along the seams rather than cutting into it. For the United States and Canada I prepay all import duties and taxes, so you pay the listed price and nothing more. Everywhere else, import tax is paid on arrival and DHL keeps it easy: they message you once the parcel lands, you pay online or by phone in about two minutes, and delivery follows the next day. Expect roughly 20% of the item price in the UK and France, 19% in Germany, 21% in Spain and the Netherlands, 22% in Italy — hand-carved wood carries no customs duty into the UK or EU, so the tax is all of it. Outside Europe, message me and I will tell you what to expect for your country. And if it helps, message me before you buy and we can agree to split it; I refund my share as soon as the parcel clears.
If your delivery destination differs from the address on your account at checkout, please message me before purchasing so I can confirm coverage.
QUESTIONS
Message me any time. You will never speak to an AI or an automated agent — every reply comes from me personally.
God bless,
Ricardo Ivan Cardenas EMBA
St. Joseph's University New York Business School Graduate
