The Flowering Season

For the design of this three-ornament set, Huancayan artisan Daniel Vargas has carved ascending flowering vines against a red background on each dried mate gourd. Mate forms part of the same creeping vine family as pumpkins and melons. The Andean community of Huancayo has a strong mate burilado, or 'engraved gourd' legacy, wherein the mate fruit is dried and then engraved with unique designs using a buril, or 'burin'.