Vintage Peruvian Mate Burilado Carved Gourd Box With Llamas

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A hand-carved Peruvian gourd box — a mate burilado, one of the oldest continuous folk art traditions in the Americas. … Read more A hand-carved Peruvian gourd box — a mate burilado, one of the oldest continuous folk art traditions in the Americas. Around the body, a procession of llamas moves through stylized Andean grasses; the lid is finished with a burned starburst and geometric borders. Every line is incised by hand with a tool called a buril, then shaded by scorching the surface with a hot stick, which gives the gourd its range of honey, amber, and deep-brown tones. The craft comes out of the Mantaro Valley and traces back thousands of years, with each gourd carved to carry a story around its circumference.

Mid-20th century. Lid lifts off with a natural stem handle. Perfect on a stack of books, a bedside table, or holding small things you want to keep. See less