It was David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s penchant for Tequila and Dia de los Muertos that resulted in their collection of 50 artisan skull bottles of mezcal. David says, “It’s organic with me. It doesn’t start with a plan. It just starts with me buying a couple of things, and then I want a few more.”

Mezcal Skull Bottle Collectors David Arment and Jim Rimelspach

The skull bottles are only the latest collection in this “pattern that repeats itself.” Over the nearly 40 years that David and Jim have been together, they’ve also collected African art, photography, contemporary paintings, and sculpture. And 2,000 Zulu telephone wire baskets, a selection of which they donated to the Museum of International Folk Art as well as formed the basis of the recent year-and-a-half-long exhibit iNgqikithi yokuPhica/Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa.

Who knows if this “pattern” would have blossomed and been nurtured if David and Jim had not been Dallas neighbors. Jim was an architect and David was moving out of high-tech work and into art consulting. “We started traveling together pretty early in our relationship and, as we traveled, we started collecting things that would remind us of our trips,” says David. Sounds benign enough but artisan skull bottles filled to the brim with mezcal? How does that “pattern” happen?

A Chance Meeting That Starts It All

Not too long ago, David and Jim ventured to San Miguel Allende for the first of many annual trips. At a mezcal bar, San Mezcal, they met two distillers—Dos Once as well as Siriaco—that bottle in artisan skulls. (Incidentally, Dos Once literally means 2 – 11 or November 2, which is the date of the annual Día de los Muertos celebration.) They’ve gotten to know the distillery owners and have custom bottles that Mexican artists hand-paint or bead for themselves and friends.

On their last trip they traveled to a town called Dolores Hidalgo, an hour north of San Miguel Allende, where Dos Once was bottling mezcal. They had the privilege of choosing artistically finished artisan skulls, and spent the day watching the bottling and sealing. “It was a really in-depth experience to where I feel a real connection to what they’re doing,” says David.

It might give one pause to see David and Jim’s Tequila and mezcal bar in their home—a host to dozens of skull bottles—but if you embrace the fact that the skull in Mexico represents celebration, remembrance, and the continuity of life—not something morbid—and you absorb the other fact that these alcohols are routinely in offerings and ceremonies, you can begin to tap into the beauty of the special traditions. David and Jim also consider the social aspect of their collection—the desire to make the world a little smaller by developing a relationship with the maker. “It’s not really just about acquiring these beautiful things. It’s about connecting with people in a different part of the world.”

Check out more Santa Fe Collectors!

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

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