Masks in Costa Rica
 

I collect masks on our travels. Will I find any in CR? Thanks in advance.

You will find masks at most souvenir shops in Costa Rica. We bought a very beautiful one, created by an artist from an indigenous culture on the Osa Peninsula (sorry I can't remember the name off hand). Most masks there are made from balsa wood, and are very light. We were able to find one carved from cedar, which was truly lovely and much sturdier. We found that the balsa masks ran around $50 US and the cedar masks $100 US.

Galeria Namu in San Jose has a selection of indigenous masks, along with many other pieces of fine folk and indigenous art. They are right downtown on Avenida 7. (Closed on Sunday.)

The gallery has a website:

www.galerianamu.com

You could E-mail them through the site for more information. I love the place.

Note to Kywood1955 :

I was told by several locals taht there are several indigenous peoples who carve masks although a person such as myself might not ever meet them. By and large, the artists are not marketers. You know this already.

I have a close friend who also collects, and for whom I purchased a mask from a land shark outside the Tabacon resort - - Yes, I know better, however, I was feeling spendy that day and his birthday is next month. I am certain he does not already own this one.

Anyway, CR is a big country in this regard and I saw only one vendor who had the quality of work I wanted as a gift. He looks a little like Howie Mandel (the comedian sometimes seen on Jay Leno's TV show) and he sells from a flatbed truck, next to a wooden booth from which another vendor operates.

The pieces offered by the wooden booth vendor did not have the same dept nor detail, so I passed. I did use them as a bargaining tool for the item I purchased.

His pieces were priced from 75-135 USD. I was able to discount a mask to 55 and I know there was some fat left on that price. Whatever. If you like, I can email .jpgs.

These are also cured balsa wood that is then hand painted by the Boruca Indians with natural pigments - as stated on the computer printed description attached to the backside. Let me know . . .

You know, English is my first language... the word I meant to type is "depth". I left off the "h".