Textile Item Number: Sf821 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Two irregular cotton fragments, with negative designs in medium brown on a light brown background. Part a, the larger of the fragments, has at least six different rectangular designs repeat in oblique rows: two faces with coronas, two bird designs, one interlocked serpent and one triangulated design that appears to incorporate the bird tail. The rectangles are divided by longitudinal bands with variations of step-frets and serpent related imagery. The short transverse bands have a similar array of motifs that also repeat obliquely. A small segment of weft selvedge remains and is paralleled by a border of step-frets. Part b is of the same cloth as part a, but has another bird design and another face. Z-spun, two-ply yarn.
History Of Use
This fragment may be a section of a poncho shirt. The painted border adjacent to the selvedge fragment may be the lower edge of the garment. A similarly patterned poncho shirt is in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. The yarn spin features are consistent with the Chancay Style fabrics (Rowe 1980) of the central coast.
Iconographic Meaning
Except for the two faces with coronas, the designs appear to derive from avian and serpentine images.
Item History
What
- Name
- Textile
- Identification Number
- Sf821 a-b
- Type of Item
- textile
- Material
- cotton fibre, dye ? and pigment ?
- Manufacturing Technique
- z-spun, plied, painted ? and resist dyed ?
- Part A
- height 41.0 cm, width 33.0 cm
- Part B
- height 27.5 cm, width 9.0 cm
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Peru
When
- Creation Date
- between 900 and 1476
- Collection Date
- between 1949 and 1966
- Ownership Date
- before May 4, 1981
- Acquisition Date
- on May 4, 1981
Other
- Item Classes
- textiles
- Condition
- poor
- Accession Number
- 0711/0323 a-b