Wide-Eyed Panda

This adorable key fob is hand crafted by Claudio Ojeda in Mexico. The panda alebrije is carved from copal wood and painted in black and white and myriad patterns and shapes in pink and purple. The wood figurine adorns a stainless steel key ring. The artisan signs his pieces with the initials 'T.C.', which represent his initial 'C' preceded by his mother Teresita's initial 'T'. Claudio learned the art of crafting alebrijes from his mother.

The folk art tradition of alebrijes dates back to the 1930's in Mexico City. A man named Pedro Linares was taken ill, and in his fevered dreams he saw a strange land populated with curious creatures--a donkey with wings, a rooster with bull's horns, and a lion with the head of a dog. The beasts all shouted 'alebrije! alebrije!'. Upon his recovery, Linares began recreating the fantastical creatures he had seen in his dream. The art form gained popularity, and alebrijes are now made of wood as well as papier mache.