Posted 5 years ago
Bekssa
(19 items)
This appears to be an anteater that is made from some type of fiber. Hand-stitched and decorated. I've spent many hours trying to find similar sculptures and even just trying to identify the fiber used (so I could possibly narrow down where it was made)--no luck at all. I'm hoping that someone will be able to provide some clues.
Banana leaf fibre.
Thank you to everyone who likes this! And, Gillian, thank you so much for the response. It ended up helping a lot. I looked up banana fiber which didn't quite match....however, while looking that up, I also found figures made from coconut fiber which has texture and color similar to this sculpture. So thanks to you, one part of the mystery may have been solved.
I'm still trying to figure out where it was made. I'm sure I've seen similar figures (same coloring with the stitches and markings) before but can't seem to find any now. Keep hoping that someone will know.
Think that I finally found the answer! It appears to be a bark animal made by the Cabécar tribe in the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica. They create animals such as this one using hand-made copra (coconut fiber). Each piece is hand-stitched and then painted using natural plant dye.