Tunic Item Number: 86.224.109 from the Brooklyn Museum
Description
Sleeved tunic with neck opening and fringed bottom. Making up its overall design are alternate bands: six that are patterned and seven that are plain red. Patterned bands continue to the edge of each sleeve, becoming very narrow at the tunic's sides. The patterned bands contain a repetitive profile of a winged figure holding a staff. Each reverses its direction along the vertical. With one bent leg below its body and the other above it, each figure floats against the ground. The solid-colored body is simplified except for a hatched design at the waist (ribs? belt?). Its headdress is made up of two bird heads with a border of stepped frets underneath. Its staff is held parallel to the tunic's shoulder seam, then turns under the figure's body and ends in the shape of a fanged animal head. A wing-like appendage emerges from its lower back and "squares" around a foot, then lies parallel to the bottom of the tunic. The imagery reflects the iconography of the monumental stone sculpture of the ceremonial site Tiwanaku in Bolivia (500-1000 A.D.) The patterns have four different color schemes arranged diagonally. Condition: The neck slit of the tunic is worn. Surface of garment overall shows wear. Some diagonal slits are open and some are repaired. Size: Adult. Probable wearer: Male. Horizontal cotton warp. Camelid fiber weft. Camelid fiber fringe. Tapestry weave with interlocked discontinuous wefts (reversible). Crossed looping embellishment at neck and arm holes.
Credit Line
Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
Item History
- Made between 600 and 1000
What
- Name
- Tunic
- Identification Number
- 86.224.109
- Type of Item
- tunic
- Material
- camelid fibre and cotton
- Overall
- length 38.1875 in, width 57.0625 in
Who
- Culture
- Wari
Where
- Holding Institution
- Brooklyn Museum
When
- Creation Date
- between 600 and 1000
Other
- Classification
- Textile