The Little Car from Ocumicho
$6500.00
A statement sourced from Michoacán, this is Cochito de Ocumicho.
The figures on the roof and clinging to the back are stylized with outspread arms and legs, forming an energetic, starburst-like shape. In Ocumicho, while many families painted their pieces in bright, glossy acrylics, a small group of highly respected master artisans became celebrated for leaving their work in this raw, unglazed terracotta style—sometimes adding subtle, stark white or dark mineral slip accents.
In Mexico, as in much of the world, owning a private passenger car was a massive symbol of wealth, elitism, urbanity, and power. The cochito acts as a direct parody of that status. The artist takes this pristine object of elite desire and turns it into a chaotic, overstuffed circus. They literally pile the lower-class "tricksters" (the diablitos or everyday folks) onto it—hanging off the bumpers, straddling the hood, and riding the roof like a playground. It strips the automobile of its dignity and status, making it a democratized vehicle of pure absurdity.
When the first automobiles and modern transport buses began rumbling into the rugged, isolated Purépecha highlands, they weren't just convenient tools; they were noisy, metallic, smoke-belching anomalies. To an isolated indigenous community, the car looked and sounded like a mechanical beast.
By taking this technological marvel and covering it in wild, chaotic figures, the artists effectively "domesticated" it. It was a way of saying, “You might be a fast, modern machine, but you cannot outrun our ancient spirit or our chaos.”
The object is 9.5” long, 6” tall and 5” wide. There is an observed flaw on the passenger side mirror where a portion of the surface has chipped.
For the safe transportation of this item, the shipping fee will be billed separately. The exact amount will be calculated based on your location and the cost will be passed through exactly as incurred (we receive no markup nor profit from shipping services).
We are actively seeking the exact artist of this piece which was inspired by, if not created by Marcelino Vicente. In the 1960s, Marcelino Vicente revolutionized Ocumicho pottery. While the village traditionally made utilitarian items and small whistles, Vicente began sculpting highly imaginative, narrative scenes featuring vibrant, mischievous devils interacting with modern objects like cars, trucks, buses, and airplanes. His work gained national recognition before his tragic, early death in 1968.
