Featured item of the day: Huichol Wood Carved Hand Beaded Jaguar Head Sculpture

This magnificent folk art was handcrafted by the Huichol, indigenous people who mostly live in the mountainous areas of northern Jalisco and parts of Nayarit in north central Mexico. They are world renowned for handcrafting "kukas" which are three dimensional ceremonial masks set in beeswax and decorated by beading. These masks evolved from small gourd bowls originally covered in seeds, bone, clay, coral and shell, but these have been replaced by commercially produced beads. It is from these masks that the modern practice of covering wooden sculptures of snakes, dolls, small animals, jaguar heads and other forms is derived.

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