Tag: antique jewelry

Our Fall Favorites Checklist

Posted on by allisonladd

Our Fall Favorites Checklist includes all the pieces we can’t live without. This Fall, decorate your wardrobe and home with distinctive beauty and comfort.

peruvian sweaters

Ribbed Alpaca Sweater Coats (above) are a wonderfully warm way to wrap yourself in Autumn. We think you’ll find that these sweaters will quickly become one of your favorite essentials!

peruvian heart silver earrings

Milagro style silver earrings made by the Cachi sisters. Even the hoops on these delicate and eye-catching  earrings are hand-made.

south american silver brooch

We found this Traditional Silver Tupo in Cusco, Peru. It’s made by an award-winning artisan, whose family has been making traditional colonial jewelry for generations. Incredible detail and charm.

cotton alpaca throw blankets shawls peru

Rich alpaca and cotton blankets are perfect for throwing over the back of a comfy chair. Grab your hot tea, a good book, and enjoy!

real horn cuffs peru jewelry

Hand-made horn cuffs naturally embrace Autumn’s more subdued palette. Each one is hand-carved and polished to reveal the detailed landscape of color found in authentic horn.

south american art, natural art from peru

Bring sophisticated character to your home by decorating with international accents. Painted on wood with natural tints, these tablets depicting family and daily activities, are painted on wood using natural pigments and given as a gift for new homes/new members of the family.

Let us know what you think! Join us on Facebook and let us know what you love about the changing of the seasons.

How We Got Access to Hidden Treasures: The Cachi Sisters

Posted on by allisonladd

peruvian silver cuff

Had it not been for the approval of a shaman, who just happened to be doing a cleansing of the artists’ studio that day, we might have never been able to bring you the exquisite jewelry of the Cachi sisters.

Peruvian artisans - Cachi sisters

In their small and humble taller (the Peruvian term for studio), tucked into the busy streets of Cusco, Peru, sisters Hilda and Sonia Cachi work with quiet intensity, seemingly unaware of the hustle and bustle outside. They’re carrying out an uncompromised family tradition of making some of Peru’s finest silver jewelry.

silver smith peru

At the recommendation of a dear friend, I went to visit Hilda and Sonia, who are famously reclusive, working only with buyers and clients that meet their standards-standards known only to them. With great hope and excitement, I trekked to their unassuming space and thanks to that shaman who advised Hilda that my aura was a radiant blue, I was admitted access to their magical world.

silver heart earrings - cache sisters
 

Hilda and Sonia are just two of Gregorio Cachi’s five daughters, all of whom are metal-smiths. Continuing in the footsteps of their award-winning father, the sisters practice time-honored and highly laborious techniques to make silver jewelry that is so highly crafted that their clients travel from all of the world-Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina-to view and purchase their work. Hilda’s work tends to be more Pre-Columbia and rustic, while Sonja’s work can be identified by contemporary variations on traditional designs.

making colonial silver jewelry

Sitting on wooden benches, amidst a clutter of hammers and other tools, they work tirelessly at every detail. They pour silver into antique molds and through careful hammering and refining, create one-of-a-kind colonial pieces that are of such quality and detail that associations, such as UNESCO, seek them out. Hilda has been honored with awards from UNESCO and the Peruvian government as has her father.

 
At El Pequeno Colibri, we are dedicated to honoring artists whose work honors Peruvian heritage and culture. And so I am delighted (and grateful!) to be able to present you with the work of Hilda and Sonia Cachi.