Mexican Trees of Life Arboles de la Vida

Mexican Trees of Life or Arboles de la Vida are one of the most popular expressions of Mexican folk art.  For more than 100 years Metepec, in the State of Mexico, has been known for its unique ceramic creations, mainly the Arbol de la Vida, tree of life, a clay sculpture covered with flowers, leaves,birds and biblical figures. In essence it is a multi-decorated candelabra.

Trees of Life used to have as a central theme the Garden of Eden. Nowadays many other stories are recounted through these splendid clay sculptures…Mexico’s history, the Day of the Dead, The Nativity, Noah’s Ark, and some are even autobiographical, telling the artist's or the customer’s own story.

Mexican Arboles de la Vida can be traced back to the early colonial period when Spanish Friars commissioned the indigenous potters to create candelabras with biblical figures such as Adam and Eve. It was a way of evangelizing or teaching the Catholic faith to the New World incorporating elements of their own culture, such as their ceramic traditions.

This magnificent expression of Mexican Folk Art is thought to have begun either in in Izucar de Matamoros in Puebla or Metepec in the State of Mexico  . Nowadays there are three localities where these fabulous trees of life are created: Metepec, Izucar de Matamoros and Acatlan.

View our collection of beautiful Mexican Trees of Life