Owl Sentries

Four small owl sentries watch and wait for the holidays to arrive in artisan Daniel Vargas's handmade dried gourd ornament set. The Andean practice of mate burilado which stands for 'engraved gourd' is renowned; mate gourds found in the northern part of Peru are dried and then chiseled to create life scenes, geometric figures and images. The craftsman employs these traditional techniques to give the owls their features and feathers, and for a unique touch, he adds natural red dye to the front of the birds.