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DescriptionWood carving by Mario Sanchez depicting a number of fish in a wicker basket set against a black background. The black background is framed by an assortment of fish carvings. Three 1.750 inch thick pieces of wood glued together. Caption reads, 'Fish caught off the coasts and reefs of the Florida Keys were Mario's first subjects for carved and painted boards. He began making them about 1930. "Nobody taught me how," he explains. "You know. Some people whittle. I carve fish..." He carved a tub full of Lane Snapper in this work, but other similar pictures carefully depict grunts, porgy, and other fish from Florida waters. Mario relates that during the Depression, many families, including his, lived on fish and cheap hominy grits. Rather than a memory of poverty, this image is a cornucopia of plenty, a reflection of the positive outlook of Mario's work.'