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The Shipibo community consists of over 35,000 people who live in more than 300 villages concentrated in the Ucauyali River area in the east central rainforest of Peru. The Rio Ucauyali and the Rio Maranon connect to form the Rio Amazonas, or Amazon River. They speak an ancient language of the Panoan family, as well as Spanish. The Shipibo are mainly hunters, artisans, fisherman, and farmers. The women are the artists and pass the techniques to their daughters, who probably made these objects. The primary art forms of this area are pottery and cloth decorated with their traditional intricate designs.

A retablo or "santero" box was originally used in Europe as a portable alter to be carried into battle during crusades. In Peru it was used by the Spanish conquistadors to teach Christianity to the people of remote villages. From the 17th to 19th centuries, santeros were transformed and integrated into the rural religious life, a combination of ancient rituals and Christianity. Mule carriers carried the boxes in which saints were carved from village to village, but they were used in magic ritual functions to insure abundance and fertility of the animals. To preserve the traditional art in modern times, the santero makers began depicting festivals, customs, history and political change. This contemporary box is now called a "retablo" and was made by the leading craft family of Nicario Jiménez, who displays his work all over the world.