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The handcraft

The peruvian handcraft

The peruvian handcraft is full of beautiful things at very low prices. Generally, you will find everything everywhere; although, the list hereby will show you where to find the most beautiful souvenirs (most of the time in Cuzco).

• Leather articles in Lima
• Brooches to fix the shawls (tupus) made in silver or plated metal, sometimes very elaborated in Cuzco
• Embroideries on cushions in Puno and Lima
• Gourds engraved and painted around Cuzco.
• Pottery, miniature typical churches made of argil (iglesitas de barro), etc. in Cuzco
• Hats made of wove straw or felt in Cuzco
• Candles, colored and with geometric or floral motifs around Cuzco and Lima
• Blankets made of lama or alpaca in Cuzco and Lima
• Cribs (retablos). Little figures contained in a wooden box with painted windows. From a religious origin, their primary objective has been changed; they are now pagan and pragmatic invocations. To be bought in Cuzco
• Stirrups in silver or plated metal in Lima
• Painted images made of a pastry based on wheat and rice flour mashed potatoes and plaster) in Cuzco
• Toys made of alpaca in Cuzco and Lima
• Masks (carnival masks) in Puno
• Mirrors with colonial style wooden and golden plated frames in Lima and Cuzco
• Objects with gold watermarks (jewellry, caskets and jewellry boxes, cigarette cases, etc.) around Cuzco and Lima
• Sculpted Objects of alabaster around Cuzco
• Pisco (raisin brandy) in... Pisco
• Ponchos a kind of cloak made of alpaca or sheep wool in Cuzco
• Pullovers, Peruvian wool hats (chullos) made of alpaca, the most beautiful are in Cuzco
• Carpets with geometric, floral or typical motifs around Cuzco
• Materials in Cusco

Recommendations

• It is possible to barter things in some typical markets.
• Don't hurry up to buy everything in Lima, during the tours and excursions you will be able to find more beautiful handcrafts and cheaper.
• If you would like to buy silver objects, check the hallmark underneath it: the number 9.25 has to be on it; for the ones in gold the mark is 18K.
• A system among others to know if a pottery is old: rub it beneath with a coin; if it remains intact, then it's old.
• Don't forget that ancient objects are part of the Peruvian patrimony; their purchase is legal, the forgery is omnipresent but leaving the territory with then is forbidden.
• If you buy a copy of an ancient pottery, do not throw away the receipt. At the airport someone may eventually ask you to see it to justify the reproduction.