Vintage Handcarved San Simon/Maximon Altar Piece from Escuintla, Guatemala

Description

A wonderful vintage San Simon/Maximon piece that was used for a home altar. Handcarved in the 1950s in Escuintla, Guatemala. It is polychromed handcarved cedar wood figure with a chair and cowboy hat. In very good antique condition with minimal signs of use.
Also known as Maximon, he plays an important role in the lives of many and is a fascinating figure found in Guatemala and elsewhere:
The worship of San Simon/Maximón is thought to have begun around the time of the Spanish conquest, and since then it has grown in Central America and parts of Mexico as Catholicism took root. His selection as a folk saint by his devotees is a classic case of religious blending: San Simon/Maximon allows many Maya to keep their traditional rituals and ceremonies intact while at the same time participating in the dominant religion brought by the colonists. Also, the worship of Maximón gives people a way to pray for worldly and material goods (a practice not usually endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church) while enjoying cigars and rum.
San Simon/Maximon is seen by his followers as being able to grant both good and evil requests: from helping to yield better crops, to finding true love, to recovering from an illness or accident, to taking revenge on an enemy. An ever evolving entity, the worship of Maximón differs greatly from person to person and from place to place. He can be seen as: deity, go-between, folk saint, compadre, seer, healer, avenger, sorcerer, traitor. His image can vary from a very primitive figure to an anglicized, dapper, well dressed, mustachioed gentleman in a black suit and sombrero: all with a propensity for smoking, drinking, and womanizing.
Dimensions:
chair 4.25” x 4.75” x  7.5" San Simon sitting is 11” high
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