🇨🇴 Handicrafts of Colombia

Handicrafts of Colombia: an introduction

For a buyer, Colombia is best understood through what comes off its workbenches rather than how it is organised. The country is known for werregue and iraca palm weaving, Zenú cañaflecha hats, filigree jewellery, ceramics and painted wood.

All fifteen craft families are shown below. The ones marked in blue are where craft output in Colombia concentrates; the rest are made or traded there on a smaller scale, and are worth a look if you are sourcing across categories.

• Handloom & Textile Crafts
• Embroidery & Needlework
• Handmade Carpets & Rugs
• Pottery & Ceramics
• Metalware & Brassware
• Woodcraft & Carving
• Stone & Marble Craft
• Handmade Jewellery & Beadwork
• Leather Craft
• Cane, Bamboo & Basketry
• Paper Craft & Papier-Mâché
• Lacquerware & Painted Wood
• Glass Craft & Beadmaking
• Handmade Toys & Dolls
• Ritual & Devotional Objects

Blue = strongest in Colombia · plain = also available

Each craft-family page explains what to look for in the finished product — quality markers, sizes, finishes, care and price behaviour — wherever in the world it is made. Read the family page for the product, and this page for the country.

Because these are handmade goods, two pieces of the same design will never be identical. Agree a colour range and a size range in writing before ordering, and keep a photographed sample as the reference for everything that follows.