Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca, Early Intermediate period, ca. 100 BCE to 800 CE. A proliferous slit tapestry textile woven from camelid wool wefts (alpaca or llama) and worked into cotton warps - note where a new color begins the wefts do not interlock- this technique is most associated with coastal Peruvian cultures. The 6 elaborate horizontal bands feature various standing deities and dignitaries / warriors holding weapons and ceremonial staffs, and mythological creatures with large fanciful headdresses with trophy type heads. This style is often referred to as "proliferous" due to the extensive and repeating motifs that cover the entirety of the surface. The ancient textile may have been a funerary shroud - the colors and fiber beautifully preserved by its internment, and the piece is mounted on a modern 20th century blue cloth and a second beige cloth over a wooden frame as a ready to display piece. Size of textile: 23" L x 19.5" W (58.4 cm x 49.5 cm); frame mounting: 25" L x 21" W (63.5 cm x 53.3 cm)

Nazca weavers tend to favor red grounds with black outlining the motifs - as we see here, and the textile is constructed from 3 separate panels sewn together. Weaving in Peruvian cultures was immensely important - as the fabric was also believed to carry power and perhaps even a life or spirit of its own - this piece would have taken considerable skill and time to weave – and this is only a fragment from a larger tunic or mantle! The high degree of expertise and imagination imparted by the pre-conquest Andeans in their woven work along with the fine and carefully chosen materials elevates this textile to fine art. It is in their textiles, not pottery, that the Nazca can fully express their mythology and beliefs colorfully and intimately.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-David Sheridan estate, Branchburg, New Jersey, USA, acquired from the 1950s to 2000s, thence by descent

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#175469

Fragment of a larger piece as shown. Loss to upper corner and fraying to peripheries. Tearing and unraveling to threads and losses to warps / weft threads, and perforations around slit woven areas. Mounted on a modern bright blue and beige cloth mounting over a wood frame. Ready to be displayed.