Add a unique touch to your home decor with this decorative gourd basket from Peru.This decorative basket is handmade by Peruvian artisans from the Sierra region. It is made of mate gourds, carefully engraved and beautifully hand-painted. Mate gourds were originally used as ornate water vessels for ceremonial offerings to the Incas. Mate gourds are the oldest and most traditional examples of Peruvian crafts. The Mate (legenaria vulgaris) grows on a climbing plant that thrives in the dry warm regions of the valleys and lower eastern slopes of the Andes. The weather conditions of the Andes help make the shell of the mate gourd as hard as wood.To clean: use damp cloth, do not immerse in water.Geometric designs may vary from basket to basket.The sale of these products contributes to the development of the villages and can generate new jobs. It also extends their audiences abroad to customer markets they would otherwise not have.The handcrafted nature of this product will produce slight variations in form and sizing. All measurements are approximate.Imported.