Embera/Wounaan Basketwork - Galeria Namu

Large Plates and Disks - Black and White Turtle Theme

Code: Code: IEWP015 20" (51 cms diameter) The talented women weavers of the two related aboriginal groups, Embera and Wounaan, are residents of the incredibly dense and abundantly biodiverse forests found in the Darien region of Panama. The raw materials employed to create this basketwork (split, dried and naturally dyed wild ‘chunga’ and ‘naguala’ palm fronds) and the weaving technique are offshoots of their traditional ‘hosig di’ baskets. Embera and Wounaan weavers are creators of the, arguably, finest traditional baskets in the world. This example of such stunning design and technique is a large woven plate (perfect artwork for wall display) with a mandala-like design consisting of a central turtle motif and intricate centrifugal patterns radiating outwards – all in a handsome black and white format.

Vessels Geometric – Red Snakeskin Pattern

Code: IEWV017 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" (9 x 14 cms) This pot-bellied basket is a beautiful marvel of weaving technique and design representing stylized snakeskin in a red format. Like most of these indigenous Darien rainforest baskets, the underside of the piece features a beautiful design resolution: a kaleidoscopic mandala, on the base of the piece (decorating tip: these basket vessels are best displayed on a glass shelf in order to appreciate the incredible work on the underside!). Museum quality traditional basketwork created by two related tribes of the Darien region between Panama and Colombia, the Embera and Wounaan. These women weavers are making, arguably, the finest autochthonous baskets in the world. These impressive rainforest baskets are made by virtue of two key elements: the endemic, wild palm tree species that provide the young fronds that are split and are the basic structure of the baskets, and of course the ancestral knowledge of the Native women of the Darien region expressed in the colours obtained from their surroundings and the complex stitching techniques employed since time immemorial.

Embera Traditional Attire Male and Female Basketry Doll

Code: IEWD015 Size: 12 ½” and 11 1/2" tall (32 and 29.5 cms tall) One of a kind indigenous art: traditional basketry dolls created from split and dyed wild palm fronds of the 'chunga' palm collected in the rainforest of the Darien region of eastern Panama. Basket making among the Embera tribe is a traditionally feminine activity and these extraordinary dolls are created by one woman, out of the whole tribe, in the Embera village of Sambu. For this reason alone, these figures are exceptionally collectable for their novelty and rarity. Special attention is given in the details of these traditionally-attired male and female Embera figures. Featuring the the patterns of the (still practiced) full body corporal markings (done with a type of neo-tropical 'henna' from the "ink" of the juice of a certain wild fruit), abundant jewelry, traditional hairstyles, as well as accessories like weapons, or burden baskets.