Description

Mint Markers^®, golf ball markers, are made with one half troy ounce of .999 Fine Silver, are 30mm in diameter, and are finished with a reeded edge.   “Sugar Skulls” gets its name from the obverse design, “Sugar Art,” brought to the New World by Italian Missionaries in the 17th Century. The first mention of sugar art in the Catholic Church was from Palermo at Easter, when little sugar lambs and angels were made to adorn the side altars.

Mexico, abundant in sugar production and too poor to buy fancy imported European church decorations, learned quickly from the friars how to make sugar art for their religious festivals. Clay-molded sugar figures of angels, sheep, and sugar skulls go back to the Colonial Period of the 18th century. Sugar skulls represented a departed soul, had the name written on the forehead, and were placed on the home ofrenda or gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit. Sugar skull art reflects the folk art style of big happy smiles, colorful icing, and sparkly tin and glittery adornments. Sugar skulls are labor-intensive and made in tiny batches in the homes of sugar skull makers. These extraordinary artisans disappear as fabricated and imported candy skulls take their place.