**Originally Listed At $1000**

New World, Spanish Colonial style, Mexico, ca. 19th century CE. A hand-carved statue of Saint Margaret of Antioch, sculpted and painted with her nun robes, holding the Christ Child in one hand. Her other hand is stretched out in blessing. She wears a round repousse halo. A worshipper has placed a small crucifix on a chain around her neck and she stands atop a carved, tiered pedestal. She is the patron saint of childbirth and pregnant women, and is often shown cradling a child. Although the early Church regarded Saint Margaret as apocryphal, her worship revived during the Crusades and she continues to be venerated to this day. Size: 7.5" L x 7" W x 20.5" H (19 cm x 17.8 cm x 52.1 cm)

Santos played an important role in bringing the Catholic Church to the New World with the Spanish colonists. These religious figures were hand-carved and often furnished with crowns, jewels, and other accessories, usually funded by religious devotees, and were used as icons to explain the major figures - Mary, Christ, and the saints - to new, indigenous converts. Likewise, they served as a connection to the Old World for Spanish colonists far from home. They became a folk art tradition in the Spanish New World, from modern day Guatemala to as far north as New Mexico and Colorado. Many of them were lovingly cared for over the years, with repairs and paint added as they aged, and played an active part for a long time in the religious life of their communities.

Provenance: ex private Francis & Lilly Robicsek Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

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#120713

Craquelure and small areas of loss to the paint as shown. Traces of wax to stabilize accessories. Some areas of overpainting. Pedestal is similar in age to the figure but was not originally with it.