Description of the Colombian Building from the Book of the Fair Guidebook:
Almost facing the Guatemala building is Columbia’s tiny home at the Fair, a white two-story edifice, dwarfed by the towering structures of Germany and Sweden. In style it is of the Italian renaissance, a domical glass roof rising abruptly from the centre surmounted by the national emblem, a condor with outstretched wings, on either side of which is a group of figures supporting a globe, and above this a flag-staff whence the national colors are displayed alternately with the stars and stripes. In the panels under the dome are inscribed the names of President Nunez and Vice-president Coro, with those of Bogota, the capital, and the nine political departments.
On the ground floor are small but interesting collections which speak of the history, products, and fauna of the country. From the graves of Indians, some of them representative of prehistoric times, come specimens of idols and images, pottery, wood-carvings, water bottles, helmets, trumpets, breastplates, necklaces, and bangles and anklets of gold. In wax statuettes are shown the features and physique of the natives, attired in garments fashioned by themselves, and there is at least one article which is proof of native skill in the line of fancy needlework. This is a silk-embroidered portrait of Director-general Davis, wrought in colors from a photograph taken by a female artist of the Quimbaya Indian tribe. Columbian coffee, especially such as is raised in the vicinity of Bogota, is prominently displayed, while cotton, another staple export, is exhibited in such manufactured forms as hammocks and clothing. There are also not a few specimens of gold; but more beautiful than all is the collection of moths and butterflies native to the country, and with all the rich hues which nature lavishes on the insect life of the tropics.