Belt Item Number: 3486/124 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
A short wide belt (chumpi or waka) with braided ends that are joined together. The centre panel has figures of birds, horses and combinations of geometric figures, including a hexagon.
Belts of different types are used by men, women, and children, and some have special names. Most belts are called chumpi (Quechua) or cinterone (Spanish). Some belts are associated with pregnant women and their babies, where they are used to fasten the swaddling cloths around the infant. Belts for children are usually smaller in size. In some areas, very wide belts are worn with a stiff underbelt, which acts as a back support. Belts in Andean villages are usually made on a continuous warp and the last few inches are finished by braiding. A wide variety of techniques are used to pattern the belts. The imagery woven on belts is usually drawn from a set of geometric and figurative icons that are combined in ways that are distinctive of a particular community. The shortness of this belt may indicate it was made for a child.
Woven in a complementary warp weave with 3-span floats in alternate alignment, “pebble” weave variant. It was likely dyed with cochineal and other natural dyes.
Purchased by the donor in Puno in 1983 at La Sirena, a textile shop owned by Christiane LeFebvre.
The hexagon seems to be a space-time icon that meshes a 6-year time cycle with the rotation of crops and fallow periods through six sectors in the community of Taquile. Stylistically, this belt is clearly not from Taquile but from another community that shares some of the same icons.