Tunic or Unku

Item number 41.1275.106 from the Brooklyn Museum.

Public

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Data
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Credit Line

Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund

Label

The Inca considered textiles more valuable than precious metals or gems. Textiles were symbols of power; clothing styles and designs identified a wearer’s social status. Rulers wore the finest tapestry-weave garments, called cumbi, such as the tunic displayed here. The unusual vicuña fringe on this tunic may have been added later.

In order to guarantee a supply of fine textiles, the Inca expanded herding and textile production into a state policy, setting up weaving workshops and collecting labor taxes in the form of woven garments.