This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/6/2023
[MEXICAN FOLK ART]. A Group of Four Hand-Painted Ex-Voto Retablos. [Mexico or the United States, ca. 1950s-1960s]. Four hand-painted Ex-Voto offerings, each offering prayers for ill family members along with patron saints (two Ex-Votos depict patients in hospital rooms). Three have the name of the supplicant in the lower right corners. Oil on reclaimed tin panels. Sizes range from approximately 10 x 14 ½” to 9 ½ x 11”. All with marginal nail holes, some wear, soiling, bumps or bends to tin sheets, some visible occasional rust. Very good condition. Ex-Votos are folk art offerings (either done by the person wanting it or, more commonly, done by an artist on commission) designed to placate a saint (depicted in the Ex-Voto) in hopes of a miracle to heal a sick family member or friend. These would be displayed in the local church until there were too many of them, and the priest would sell them to make space and fill the church’s coffers. In recent years, Ex-Votos have become mainly photographic, and so these painted ones are increasingly rare and sought after.