Looking for Mayan Art in US
 

Hey all -- Does anyone know where to find a website or an actual store (in the Southeastern US) that carries actual or reproduction Mayan (East coast Mexico, Belize, Guatemala) artifacts? I'm particularly interested in finding brightly colored painted wooden animals I saw for sale in those areas. Much as I would love to travel down there to procure such items, pregnancy and a husband convinced that I'll pick up some foodborne microbe just makes it impossible right now. Thanks all in advance for your ideas!

You might try eBay. It has everything! :)

I'm a bit confused...having just toured Mayan sites in Belize, I didn't see any brightly colored painted wooden animals there. Perhaps you're thinking of Oaxacan carved and painted animals? Fantastic colors and shapes? Authentic originals come from Oaxaca in Mexico, and indeed, I have seen lots on ebay; they're not artifacts, but continue to be made today. There are lots of Guatemalan knock-offs around, too, that are of lower quality but also cheaper. Good luck!

You might want to try 10,000 Villages (also know as One World Market in some places).

Congrats on the baby. When are you due?

That sounds like something you could possibly find in Asheville. Two stores come to mind...

A Far Away Place -- in the Flatiron Building at Battery Park Avenue and Wall Street. Phone is 828-252-1891.

Terra Nostra Decor -- newly opened, don't know the phone number, but it's at the corner of College Street and Lexington Avenue.

The Oaxacan figurines, called <i>alebrijes</i>, are indeed widely available. You can find them all over the place here in California-- in fact, up and down the Pacific coast. An Oregon shop called Whimsical Arts (whimsicalarts.com) sells them on-line. FYI, the Oaxacan alebrijes are not &quot;Mayan&quot; artifacts-- they are charming souvenirs invented maybe 50 or 60 years ago for Oaxacan artisans to sell to visitors. A little primitive, a little surrealist, a lot exotic-- and if you like them, so what if they're &quot;invented tradition&quot;? The better pieces are often very cool.

Wow -- thank you all for the info on the painted animals being Oaxacan! I had thought they were Mayan because I saw a lot of them last year in Playa Del Carmen and Akumal, both along the Yucatan coast. Thanks for the resources, I'll try them all. I'm trying to make the nursery look like a jungle (fake trees and all).