Nuristani Hand Carved Decor

Handmade in Nuristan, a remote province in Afghanistan

Can be used to hold pens, pencils, makeup brushes, or other items

3 1/4" x 5" h

Nuristan is located in a mountainous and inaccessible part of eastern Afghanistan with villages clustered together on steep mountainsides. Many elements of Nuristan’s domestic art and culture are still tied to the pre-Islamic traditions. Each village has at least one family of bari, craftsmen who performed the labor of building houses and making tools, furnishings and other household utensils. Wood for construction is logged in the coniferous forests of the mountains adjoining the villages. Logs and rough pieces are dragged or brought by donkeys along steep paths to the villages. (There are no roads in the interior of Nuristan.) Several carpenters often work together to cut and shape the timbers for new building material. Designs for carved wood are first outlined, then carved into the wood by hand