Hat Item Number: 3486/28 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Small knitted cap (chullu) made of handspun sheep’s wool(?). A thin row in dark blue forms the very edge of the border, followed by two rows of checkboard patterning against a beige background in red and dark blue respectively. The main design of the cap has colourful horizontal bands with beige geometric and bird motifs separated by thin yellow rows. The background of the bands are split into three sections starting with a red or dark orange stripe on the bottom half, a hot pink stripe in the middle of the band, and the top section which alternates between dark blue and olive green. The background of the band at the very top of the cap is solid red and ends in a small tail.
Small size indicates it is a boy’s cap. Knitting was introduced to the Andes after the Spanish Conquest. Knitting is more often done by men, particularly for their caps (chullu, in Quechua). Variations in colours, designs, and fineness in chullus, as well as additions, are used to signal differences in affiliation, age, gender, status, rank, etc., particularly in some communities such as Taquile, Peru where little girls as well as boys and men wear variants of the chullu. Knitting in the round is done on 5 needles that are often fashioned from bicycle spokes.
Bought by the donor in 1983 in the Pisac market. Said to be from Tambobamba (Cotabambas province).
The cap was knitted in the round on five needles.