San José 1953 Mexican Ex Voto Retablo Debt Paid by Inheritance 11 in For Sale
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San José 1953 Mexican Ex Voto Retablo Debt Paid by Inheritance 11 in:
$287.00
Price
$287 | Free worldwide shipping
DescriptionA narrative ex-voto painted in oil on tin on March 2, 1953, for Anastacia Rodríguez M. of Fresnillo, Zacatecas. She thanks Saint Joseph for lifting her out of a heavy debt: land was left to her as an inheritance, she sold it, and she paid off everything she owed.
At left, Saint Joseph sits in a glory of thick, swirled clouds against a green sky. He is crowned in gold and wears a green tunic under an ochre mantle. On his knee he holds the Christ Child, also crowned, in a white gown with a gold sash and a rose-red mantle. At right, Anastacia kneels on a brick step before a tall lit candle, wrapped in a dark green rebozo over a pink skirt, with a rosary in her hand. The inscription runs across a green band at the foot in blue lettering. It measures 11 inches wide by 10.5 inches high (28 x 27 cm).
It comes from the same source as the rest of my retablos: one unknown painter who never signed his work and has since died. Families commissioned his pieces and took them to their village churches.
An elderly custodian at one of those churches has been collecting this painter’s work for decades. A picker who travels the small village churches brought it to my dealer, and my dealer brought it to me.
None of those links is documented on paper, so I give it to you as the path it traveled, not as a chain of title.
The inscription
As painted:
“Freznillo Zac. Marzo 2 De 1953. Milagro Concevido: ANastacia Radriguez m. gracias San Jose: Deviamuello Dinera. Una Me Heredo Unos Tierras: las Vendi i Pague TaDo: Gracias”
In English:
“Fresnillo, Zacatecas, March 2, 1953. Miracle granted to Anastacia Rodríguez M. Thank you, Saint Joseph. I owed a great deal of money. Some land was left to me; I sold it and paid everything. Thank you.”
The spelling is the painter’s own. His habit of forming o’s like a’s shows in Radriguez for Rodríguez, Dinera for dinero and TaDo for todo, and it runs the other way in Unos for unas. He writes v in Devia for debía and in Concevido for concedido, ll for ch in muello, z for s in Freznillo, and i for y. Irregularities like these are part of what makes the piece genuine.
Condition
Good for its age. The paint is stable and the inscription is fully legible.
There is a nail hole at the top edge, left of center, and a small area of flaking at the upper left corner. Fine craquelure runs through Saint Joseph’s robe, the kneeling woman’s rebozo and skirt, and the brick wall at right. Small green oxidation spots show through the inscription band, and the edges carry light rubbing.
The verso is bare tin with rust along the top and left edges and scattered rust spots across the sheet. The sheet has light dents, and the nail hole shows from behind with a small raised burr.
Appraisal
Grade: A
This is a complete narrative ex-voto: dated to the day, placed and named. Its miracle is an uncommon one for this painter, since most of his panels record healings. Here a woman is freed from debt by an inheritance, and the inscription follows it through to the sale of the land and the last payment. Saint Joseph with the crowned Christ Child, framed in heavy impasto clouds, is one of the hand’s strongest compositions. Graded against realized sales of this painter’s work.
Gallery replacement value: $700. This is what it would cost to replace this piece through a gallery, for insurance and estate purposes.
About the photographs
Some photographs show the retablo staged in a home setting. Those backgrounds are digitally created only to help you imagine the piece in a room. The painting itself is unaltered and untouched in every image. Plain-background photographs of the actual piece are included as well. Only the retablo is included.
Shipping and import fees
The price includes DHL Express shipping anywhere in the world, with tracking. The piece is packed by Diseños de Cartón in Guadalajara.
Import duty and tax are the buyer’s responsibility. The tariff code is 9701.91, hand-painted original art. Most markets let it in duty-free, and it qualifies for a reduced tax rate wherever one exists.
When it arrives, open the box along the seams; never cut down into it.
If your delivery country differs from your account country, message me before purchasing.
Destination | Import duty | Import tax | Estimated total
United States | 0% | none collected at import | $0
Canada | 0% | 5% GST, or 13–15% HST by province | $16 – $47
United Kingdom | 0% | 5% reduced-rate import VAT on works of art | about $16
European Union | 0% | 5.5% – 13.5% reduced rate, set by your country | $17 – $42
Australia | none on orders under AUD 1,000 | 10% GST, charged at checkout | about $31, paid at checkout
Where tax is collected at delivery, DHL adds a small advancement fee, typically $12 to $20.
Questions
You will always reach a real person, never AI.
God bless,
Ricardo Ivan Cardenas EMBA
St. Joseph’s University New York Business School Graduate
item specificsHandmade: Yes
Provenance: Ownership History Not Available
Country of Origin: Mexico
California Prop 65 Warning: N/A
Culture: Mexican
Date of Creation: 1953
Dimensions: 11" W x 10.5" H (28 x 27 cm)
Type: Ex Voto Retablo
Subject: San José with the Christ Child, debt paid through an inheritance of land
Region of Origin: Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico
Material: Hand-Painted Oil on Tin
Framing: Unframed
Petitioner: Anastacia Rodríguez M.
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