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The main silverwork areas are the departments of Junín,
Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Cusco. Silversmiths who have maintained
a rich colonial tradition, have developed a wide variety of
shapes and motifs, crafting works of art with figures of fowls,
peacocks, horses and stars as well as articles for religious
and domestic use.
Other important works of silver include wrought silver pinches
done in the Cusco colonial style, the tupu pins to fasten
the lliclla shawl, alpaca necklaces worked in black onyx and
bamboo, silver necklaces set with obsidian, burnished silver
earrings set with opals in several colors done in the colonial
style, as well as silver-edged wooden frames for paintings
and mirrors.
Another major technique is silver filigree, where both silver
and gold are thinned out to a minimum to work the piece into
extraordinarily beautiful items.
One of the main filigree production centers is Catacaos (in
the department of Piura), heirs to the tradition of the Vicus
culture.
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