Hair Tie Item Number: 3486/21 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Wasa watana (hair tie). A braided hair tie made in the combined techniques of oblique interlacing (black threads) and oblique twining (colours). Each end terminates in many coloured tassels, which are joined together by wrapped and embroidered bands. The tassel bands have one major bifurcation plus many minor bifurcations ending in tassels.
Hair ties are worn by highland women of Peru and Bolivia as adornments but are also useful for keeping their long braids joined together on their back and out of their way while doing other tasks. In the Cusco area, they are called “wasa watana” (Quechua), which means a narrow woven band with other bands woven through it. The distinctive feature of woven wasa watana is the addition of intersecting warp bands near both ends, which are also woven. The intersecting bands produce tassel-like endings with fringes. The most common design woven into the narrow bands is nested diamonds; other patterns based on triangles or zigzags are also used. The main band bridges woman’s hair braids and sections of it are included in the braids, with the tassels extending from the ends of their braids. Types vary in Peru and Bolivia and several different techniques (weaving, braiding, wrapping, felting, embroidery) are used to make them.
Bought by the donor in 1983 in La Paz, Bolivia. Unusual technique from an unknown area, probably in Bolivia.