The town of Santa Maria da Vitoria was founded in the mid-19^th century in the State of Bahia and is situated on the banks of the River Corrente, one of the main tributaries of the São Francisco River, in the mesoregion of the Extreme West of Bahia, around 617km from Salvador.  Santa Maria da Vitoria today has 40,571 inhabitants (IBGE, 2007). The village, which gave origin to the municipality, originated from the exploration of gold but its economy later was based on agriculture. This is the town on the banks of the Corrente River of one of the main masters in the art of making carrancos, i.e. figureheads, Francisco Biquiba de Lafuente Guarany, or Master Guarany. His carvings are characterised by his treatment of the figureheads’ hair in accentuated relief or thick, always abundant, to almost covering the entire neck.