Border

Item number Sf818 a-j from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Ten fragments of the same border including one corner. Design of double headed serpents repeated in interlocked z shaped modules. Tabs along one edge have designs of branching plants. There is a range of colours that alternate irregularly, but include two shades of yellow, two shades of red, three green, two brown, grey, and black. Very finely worked in cross knit looping. Z-spun, two plied s.

History Of Use

Cross-knit looped borders appear on cloths which may have been mantles, turbans or altar cloths (Bird and Bellinger). The tab edge of the border faces inward. Birds, flowers, plants, and humans are used in similar borders (Sawyer).

Iconographic Meaning

Serpents appear in all periods. In the earlier, more representational Chavinoid Style, serpents are used as metaphors on natural body coverings like fur, feathers and manufactured coverings like headdresses. In this piece, double-headed serpents repeat in a pattern that derives from 'twisted strand' or guilloche images of the Chavinoid Style. Serpents appear in increasingly geometric arrangements in styles later than Chavin, and may continue to have the same meaning. The branching plant on the tabs is probably maize.