Ciprian Woodcarving - Utensils from Peru

The Ciprian woodshop is made up of three generations of craftspeople dedicated to hand carving wooden utensils. The shop is located in the region of Ayacucho in the Peruvian Highlands. These master carvers harvest and use "unka", a shrub-like tree endemic to the Andes that is highly prized for its hard, almost white wood that has no taste or smell. The Ciprian family is well-known for their highly detailed carvings and finely designed utensils that are made by hand. These prodigious woodcarvers take inspiration for their designs from their natural surroundings as well as the iconography of their Andean culture.