Arts & Cultures Collections Database

Day of the Dead Cartoneria
Whimsical Mexican fiesta art

Cartoneria are papier-mache sculptural works made for use or sale during seasonal fiestas in Mexico. This highly imaginative and animated skeleton sculpture was made for the Day of the Dead fiesta by David Linares-Vargas, a member of a well-known Mexico City family that has made cartoneria since the 1950s. Within two generations, the extended family transformed their art from an anonymous folk art to unique, signed works produced for collectors. David carries on the tradition of his grandfather by working with his father, Felipe Linares, to produce a broad array of whimsical, life-size sculptures.

Donated in honor of a UW faculty member
This piece was originally acquired from a Seattle gallery in the 1990s by Robert D. Wilson, former University of Washington art history faculty, who taught about Mexican colonial and folk art. After Wilson’s death in 2009, Drs. René and Stephanie Bravmann acquired it from his estate and donated it to the Burke Museum in Wilson’s memory.