1950's Candelario Medrano ( 1918-1986) "El Tren" Ceramic Mexican Folk Art.Measures 6" x 17 1/2" x 3". Total Weight 4 lbs. ?Candelario Medrano (1918 ? 1986) was one of the top figural ceramicists in M?xico. He was the adopted son of Juli?n Acero, the finest ceramic toy maker in the village of Santa Cruz de las Huertas in the state of Jalisco. Candelario followed in his father?s footsteps and began making ceramic toy whistles of mermaids and roosters. Candelario sold whistles at the Tonal? Thursday markets, which is where he met world-renown ceramicist Jorge Wilmot (1928 ? 2012). Wilmot was impressed with the ?unusual wrought and lively? dieciochos and veinticuatros, or the eighteens and twenty-fours, which were the prices of the whistles. Jorge suggested to Candelario that he should put his animals on large structures, such as arks, apartment buildings and buses. Jorge even sketched a design to show him. Excited about the idea to evolve his art, Candelario began making vignettes of happy people on what were, to him, miracles of the modern age ? brightly painted airplanes, taxis, boats, and trucks.Candelario?s pieces were collected by Nelson Rockefeller and other savvy connoisseurs of Mexican popular art. Medrano remains a celebrated master of folk ceramics and his work continues to be celebrated and prized around the world.

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