Size: adult; probable wearer: male. Plain weave with horizontal camelid fiber warp, camelid fiber weft and camelid fiber embroidery. The imagery consists of embroidered condors on the dark blue field and along the borders. The birds are rendered in colors of green-blue, dark blue and orange. Portions of the borders have fringes at their outer edge. From Mary Frame's notes: The fleshy carbuncle above the beak and the long flight feathers are distinctive features of condors. Other dominant traits are the outspread flying-wings depicted as if seen from below; the condors are shown as if swiveled to the side with the beak in profile. The border figures are unusual in being oriented transversely; they alternate up and down rather than left and right. This orientation is almost exclusively used for condors or humans with condor attributes (Boston Museum of Fine Art 16.342 and matching ponchito); very rarely for falcons (MfV Berlin 63321); and almost never for other figures. In the field, horizontal rows alternate laterally by pairs of rows rather than single rows, uncommon but not unique. The background of the border, with the subtle chevron pattern created by changing the diagonal S- and Z-slant of the stitching, is unusual. Other examples of Paracas textiles with condor figures oriented transversely show an elaborately attired human figure with condor wings outspread; the figure likely representing a mythic transformation to condor. This mantle stands out for its impeccable workmanship and completeness. Comparative examples with condors in this orientation are patterned in only one-half of the field.

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Size: adult; probable wearer: male. Plain weave, with the field consisting of a horizontal camelid fiber warp and camelid fiber weft. The borders are woven with a horizontal cotton warp, cotton weft, and camelid fiber embroidery; one corner is missing. The mantle has a dark green background with a 24 centimeter fringed border on each side and small embroidered squares all over. It is decorated with a formalized animal motif in blue, green and yellow. Mary Frame's notes: Multiple feline figures are nested within the outline of "linear figures." The ears, tail, and arrangement of limbs and head are consistent with feline representations. Filler figures are cats, humans(?) and snakes. Cats also repeat in the interior border and on the looped seam cover. The number of figures on the mantle field is relatively large in comparison to other "linear" checkerboard mantles. Three other textiles in the Brooklyn Museum collection have figures that relate to those on 34.1554. This example is the most feline-like; 34.1541a,b and 47.13.2 are predominantly feline with some human attributes, and 34.1546 is a predominantly human figure with a few feline traits.

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Size: adult. Probable wearer: male. Field: cotton warp, cotton weft, plain weave. Borders: cotton warp, cotton weft with camelid fiber embroidery. The border foundation is very weak. A dark blue field with dark brown warps in the borders. The embroidery uses red for the border background, and green, yellow, and dark blue colors. According to Mary Frame, variants of this motif most often occur on turbans (head cloths). Some have feline or human heads, rather than snake heads. (See Anne Paul, Nawpa Pacha 20, pp. 41-60). On the border, the embroidered images of interlocked snakes with slanted bodies in an S- or Z-twist direction are analogous to the structures of cords. Filler figures of coiled snakes surround the interlocked figures.

Size: adult; probable wearer: male. The plain weave field is made up of a horizontal camelid fiber warp and camelid fiber weft. The border is made of a horizontal camelid fiber warp, camelid fiber weft and embroidery. The mantle consists of a black field with a narrow median band. The wide border represents sixteen double bird figures facing outward with the same image repeated within. The colors employed are dark blue, reddish-purple, dark green, and golden yellow with the fringes made of the same colors.

This mantle would have been worn or used by an adult male. It is constructed of a plain weave dark blue horizontal camelid fiber warp and weft field and camelid fiber stem stitch, rectilinearly worked one-faced embroidery decorated red plain weave border. This textile has been reshaped in order to flatten it. Three corners have been slit and the fringe moved at one of them. In the lower left field, in order to cover the newly formed field's edge, the crossed looping was removed, the fringe freed, and restitched on the border edge (NK). From Mary Frame's notes: Color blocks in the field are based on the consistent coloration of two nested outlines of the serpentine body, and on the borders are based on the consistent coloration of three nested outlines. There is a symmetrical deviation on the border where in two cases the coloration of the nested outlines inside is reversed. The nested figures have snake bodies and human heads with cat filler figures; multiple figures are nested within the outline of "linear"' style figures. The total number of field figures equal 262 whole figures and 96 partial figures; the total number of textile figures is 268 whole figures and 108 partial figures. In the field, the colors line up as three monocolors on the Z diagonal. This mantle is exceptionally regular in its lay-out and color patterning. A singular deviation from the pattern occurs in the paired band on the right side of the field. One less figure is incorporated in each of the pair. The mantle also has more paired bands in the field than any other in the sample located so far. Two other mantles in the Brooklyn Museum collection have the same paired band format and the same figure (34.1552 and 32.106). A poncho (34.1582), two headbands (34.1597 and X2000.1032), and a mantle with a plain field (34.1551) also have the same figure. The main variations among this group are: the number of paired bands in the field, the number of colored outlines in border and field figures, the slant (S or Z) of the serpentine bodies, and the number and completeness of the color blocks. The border figures are Z-slanted and the field figures are S-slanted. The number, color and slant attributes of the repeating figures can also be applied to the structure of cords, which the interlocked figures resemble. See "The Visual Images of Fabric Structures in Ancient Peruvian Art" by Mary Frame (The Junius B. Bird Conference on Andean Textiles, April 7th and 8th, 1984, ed. Ann Pollard Rowe, pp. 47-80. Washington, D.C.: Textile Museum, 1886) for a discussion of imagery related to the structures of cloth and cords. Most "linear" embroideries of this type have a dark blue field with predominantly red embroidery. A smaller number have a different color scheme. Similar textiles may be found in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia y Arqueologia de Lima, and they are a headband from bundle (401); a skirt (421-49); a mantle (421-4) and a poncho (421-44); in the collection of the United Nations, New York; and in the Boston Museum of Art (1972.353).

A man's two-piece striped poncho. Stripes with geometric patterns have widths that are medium and wide, while stripes with solid colors have widths that are narrow. Because of the textile having been washed, natural white alpaca fleece has been changed to a light pink in places. Neck opening and poncho selvages have the same sewn-on edge of braid binding and fringe. Predominant colors of object are dark red and white with stripes of green, yellow and black. At the center of each of the two pieces that make up the poncho are a trio of large parallal diamond-patterned stripes with a narrower patterned stripe on each side. Narrow solid-colored stripes alternate with patterned stripes. The sewn-on braiding edge has diamond designs in yellow, green, dark red, and white; woven into the braid is a bright fringe of pink green, orange, red, white, black, brown and purple. To create curved edges on the poncho, each of the four corners has been sewn down.The object is complete and its overall condition is good. It was purchased unused. Condition: excellent.

Collection of Christopher B. Martin

Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund