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.

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.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Caroline A.L. Pratt Fund

Carll H. de Silver Fund

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Frank Sherman Benson Fund and the Henry L. Batterman Fund