Arts and Crafts of Columbia - Central America

In Columbia and the Isthmus region: The forms and the decorative motifs of their works in clay, gold, and stone vary from the more recognisable native art to realism.

Art objects in some regions are over laden with symbols and comprise, the supernatural, such as, alligators with human bodies, four-headed birds of prey, and crouching jaguars with bulging eyes.

The Quimbaya style differs from all other styles in its emphasis on realism. Nothing is transformed into the demoniac or the abstract.

The typical figures of the “caciques,” their chieftains, are mostly nude except for a gold helmet and chains of gold beads around the neck, calves, and ankles. Female figures are rare.

The Chibcha tribes were the most culturally advanced. They were remarkable for their great skill as goldsmiths.

North of Costa Rica the number of gold objects decreases, and there are mostly stone statues and brightly painted pottery.

Many of the works in clay are painted by a kind of stencil process: parts of the vessel are covered with wax, and when the vessel is dipped into paint the parts covered by wax remain the original colour of the baked clay.

The Indian potter kneaded clay into snakelike strips which he then coiled around in spirals to the desired form.

Separate parts of the body, such as the nose, mouth, eyebrows, and ears, were then usually modelled directly in the clay to heighten the sheen of the surface; it was also polished by hand with smooth stones.

They also produced jewellery and ornaments with shell inlays, bone carvings, and works in precious and semiprecious stones.

Weaving and basketry was widely practised, making use of the available natural resources, the people, mostly women, produced elaborately designed colourful articles.

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