Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Group of eleven arrows painted with black and red stripes and dots. Ten arrows have metal points.

This man's breast plate has nine, carved flat, shell bead strands across the chest centered with a blue faceted glass bead. This is then held by a raw, hide, thin band that goes all around. This is studded with small brass buttons. Ten rawhide cords are along the sides for tying on and two at the top.

Kachina figure is probably Crow Mother-Angwusnasomtaqa and is one of the mothers of the Kachinas. She answers to the various calls of her children and certain ceremonial actions such as leading the performance and special initiation of children. As such she knows all the etiquette, moral ethics and virtues thus appears always to be very stately. Wing like forms on each side of head and the dark triangular shape with bar at base symbolize facial features are characteristic. Figure is painted blue, black, and white; feet are painted red. Feather headdress missing, surface wear.

This is a wood mudhead clown kachina with a wool skirt. Koyemshi Kachina (Mudhead) Clowns Koyemshi Kachinas, or Mudheads were created when the Zuni first entered the world. One brother and sister had improper relations so their ten children became Mudheads. Each Mudhead exhibits behavior opposite to what their name is. Thus “The Aged One” acts like a child, “The Invisible One,” thinks he is hiding if he only holds up a feather in front of his face, while the all-important “Speaker of the Sun” is really a witless daydreamer and rarely speaks. A troop of ten different Mudhead Kachinas appear in most Zuni ceremonies performing outrageous behaviors and interacting with the audience, making them laugh but also making people realize how wrong such behavior really is as the clowns are eventually chased away.

Town record or lienzo painted on a plain-weave cotton cloth which consists of nine four-selvaged cotton panels joined together to make one large sheet. This form of Spanish Colonial manuscript was made to provide visual information regarding the history of indigenous Mixtec communities in the Valley of Coixtlahuaca, in the modern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, and their relationships to each other. It is one of six major lienzos that were made for the towns in this Mixtec valley. All share the features of having many place glyphs; delineations of land represented by rectangular areas and often identified by glyphs; written glosses in several languages, including Nahuatl (most frequent), Choco, Mixe and Spanish; and royal genealogies that may encompass other communities as well. The Lienzo of Ihuitlan has all of these attributes, including twenty-one place glyphs, usually glossed in Nahuatl. In general, the glyphs are arranged around the circumference of the textile, and the glyph for Ihuitlan is farthest from the edge in the lower right corner. That glyph is distinguished by a drawing of the Dominican church of Santiago Ihuitlan which is adjacent. The glyphs parallel the locations of the communities in the valley which identifies the lienzo a map, with the uppermost section oriented to the north. Besides the church, the only other European element is the twenty-one names marked in Spanish script. In the center section, genealogies of community rulers and their place glyphs appear, however, not all the place glyphs have corresponding genealogies. The most extensive genealogies are those for Coixtlahuaca, Ihuitlan, and the two unglossed and unidentified localities that have been thought to represent Water and Texcalhueyac. The husband and wife of each generation are seated on a mat or jaguar skin, ancient signs of rank, with a name symbol painted beside each figure. There are 170 figures, arranged in columns according to dynasties and in some cases connected by rows of footprints to indicate how certain rulers were descended from those of other towns. Although one dynasty does not have place identification, through comparison to another lienzo, it is thought to be the Yucucuy dynasty. Three couples make up the rest of the dynastic list with the first relating to the sixth ruling pair of Yucucuy (as seen on the Lienzo Antonio de Leon). Footsteps descending from this couple are evidence that they are the parents of Female 8 Death of the founding pair of the first dynasty of Ihuitlan. The genealogical parts of the lienzo are divided into two sections with the bottom area containing a gloss but not a glyph and three pairs of ancestors; the center area contains the opposite iconography showing a glyph and not a gloss and fifteen pairs of ancestors. Although there are no footprints connecting the genealogies, in the Lienzo Antonio de Leon, the last couple of the first dynasty, Male 4 Water and Female 3 Grass, are represented as the parents of Male 6 Rain, the first ruler of the second dynasty. Genealogies in Mixtec lienzos are thought to validate the legitimacy of the rulers of the communities; however, in this lienzo they also illustrate the ruler's ownership of the community lands as a whole. This inclusion probably helped insure the preservation of the lienzo.

Mantle with ninety individual, colorful figures decorating the border. The interior cloth is simple, fragmented, and possibly of an earlier date. Cross-loop stitch flowers join the border to the central cloth. Although the mantle was found at the Paracas Necropolis and has been known as "The Paracas Textile" since it was acquired by the Brooklyn Museum in 1938, the cross-knit looping of the border figures is a typical Nasca 2 technique. The mantle is therefore now considered to be the work of Nasca artists, who were contemporaneous with the Paracas people. Some scholars also believe that the central cloth dates from an earlier period and may have come from the Ica Valley where objects with similar "Oculate Being" imagery have been found. The textile is about two thousand years old. That it survived over time is due to the dry desert climate of the South Coast of Peru where it was discovered. In spite of its fragile condition, it is one of the most important textiles in the world because of its complexity and mysterious imagery. Its fragile nature demands low levels of light, an environment free from vibrations, and a case to protect it from dust and moisture. Excerpted information from a brochure published by the Brooklyn Museum in 1991: Ninety separate figures stand around the border as if in a formal procession. About thirty figures are unique; others fall into groups that share similar costumes, coloring, body postures, and positions. No single figure stands out clearly from the rest, and no overall sequence has yet been deciphered. The back of the border is a mirror image of the front, except for three figures that have a front and a back. All of the figures are represented from multiple viewpoints and each individual body part is treated separately in a standardized way: faces are always seen full-face, feet in profile, and so on. The designs in both the center and border of the textile are organized around the lines of an imaginary cross passing through the center. It divides the faces in the central cloth into two groups, and the border figures into four, each of which point their feet in a different direction. Some figures seem to be mythological and have unnatural characteristics such as appendages sometimes called "streamers" or "signifiers," which usually extend from mouths or clothing. Streamers do not correspond to a known object and may represent some abstract force of energy. Some human figures wear very elaborate costumes. As in many societies, costumed priests may have acted as interpreters and mediators between the natural and supernatural worlds. The costumed figures may also represent an intermediate stage in the transformation from real living person to spirit. Since Paracas and Nasca textiles were used as funeral wrappings, it would be appropriate for their designs to reflect such a transformation. Three of the figures are thought to be women because of the longer dress-type clothing; the head is bent backwards and the arms are raised. In keeping with the agricultural theme of the border, two types of plants sprout from these three female figures. Other border figures hold or display disembodied heads and small doll-like objects that scholars call "trophy heads" and "effigy figures." These seem to be related to ritual sacrifices connected with a religious cult that spread through the South Coast at this time. Bodiless heads and sacrificial victims are found in burials, and images of sacrifice occur throughout Paracas and Nasca art. Trophy heads on the border often appear to germinate like seeds, sprouting plants and animals, suggesting interconnected cycles of birth and death. About one-third of the border figures have some type of feline motif. The larger "Pampas cat" portrayed is a small wild cat called Felis colocolo, which is still found in the South Coast area. The regalia portrayed correspond to rich, beautifully crafted items known from Paracas mummy bundles. Forehead ornaments, hair bangles, and mouth masks such as those shown were made from thin sheets of gold. Llamas were the only beasts of burden used in the Andes in pre-Columbian times. They carried products between the vastly different ecological zones at different altitudes. The llamas portrayed (although one is much deteriorated) each carry a leafy branch with fruit; their backs are decorated with beans, flowers, a chili pepper, and other vegetables. Llamas continue to have both practical and symbolic importance in the Andes. Three border figures wear what appears to be a fox skin. These skins have been found in many mummy bundles. In Inca times (1470-1532) fox skins were a special badge worn by men who had specific community duties related to agriculture. Since these figures all wear a headdress decorated with a leafy branch, they may have held a similar office. There are distinctions between figures that might indicate the presence of more than one artist. Two of the fox-skin wearers are almost identical: but a third is slightly larger and different in its detailing. One of the only three figures on the border with a front and a back appears in a costume with a bird wing worn over one shoulder. One of the Paracas mummy bundles included just such a costume -- a feathered, wing-like cape. The central figure in a trio found at one end of the textile has a long streamer extending from his mouth and ending in a cat; another mouth streamer has been lost. The borders on his ankle-length garment and all of his streamers have intricate repeating motifs that are similar to the embroidered designs found on numerous Paracas Necropolis textiles. Many of the tongue streamers on the border are decorated with the same colors, patterns, or edgings as those that appear on garments. This may suggest some correspondence between textiles and language. Textiles still reflect a medium of communication in the Andes. Family and village designs on textiles are representative of social identity and help maintain inherited information, connecting past, present, and future generations. Agriculture was well established on the South Coast by Paracas and Nasca times and a wide variety of plants are represented in the border design, including root vegetables, fruits, beans, and yucca and flowering species. Some scholars feel this textile is a type of calendar, especially because so many different types of flora and fauna are represented, but none have definitively been able to decode the imagery. Comments by Isabel Iriarte, Curator of Collections, Archaeological Textiles, Museo Ethografico "Juan B. Ambrosetti," University of Buenos Aires, March, 2004: The figure of a "woman" appears three times, figure number 88 on the short end, number 73, and also as number 67. Each character by her side is different. She is carrying what seems to be, according to the limpness of the body, a dead person, however, the figure holds a tumi. This is thought to be a woman because of the longer dress-type of clothing she is wearing; her head is bent backwards and her arms are raised. From "Textiles of ancient Peru and their techniques" by Raoul d'Harcourt, Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 1962 [1934]: In keeping with the agricultural theme of the border, two types of plants sprout from the figure. On figure 88 one can see the tuber, and on each of the three figures it is possible to discern the plant extending down the side of the figure, possibly a camote or sweet potato plant.

Size: adult; probable wearer: male. Wool (camelid), warp-faced plain weave; wool, silk, and metallic (on linen core) embroidery; wool plain-weave appliqué (European?). One of only a few known Spanish Colonial embroidered tunics composed of a single length of warp-faced plain weave camelid wool with a subtle herringbone pattern. It is dark brown in color with broad stripes of red at the sides and embroidered designs at the neck opening and the bottom. In several places the embroidery is covered by small appliqués of cloth. The warp threads alternate narrow stripes of yarns spun in the "S" direction with narrow stripes of yarns spun in the "Z" direction. The result is a subtle striping effect throughout the fabric called l'loque. Contemporary Andean weavers believe l'loque keeps the "spirit" of the cloth contained. On one side, the border design consists of two Inca warriors amid three pairs of heraldic animals; on the other side three Incas are portrayed attended by musicians and women offering flowers. Embroidered above the head of the central Inca is a rainbow. The heraldic animals and Inca warriors on the other side are sewn with silver threads in a dense composition that resembles European textile designs, while the Incas and their attendants are sewn in bright colors with each figure standing out clearly against the background in an arrangement similar to the painted designs on native drinking cups (keros). The bottom edges of both sides are the same. They are embroidered with a row of small rectangular patterns that recall the tocapu designs woven on pre-Conquest Inca tapestry tunics. The neck of the tunic is also decorated with tocapu-like designs and floral motifs; on one side below the neck opening is an appliqué of a double-headed eagle of European derivation. It is possible that some of the embroidery is a recent addition; however, the appearance of the garment convincingly indicates prolonged use.

A sheet of paper with a pictorial genealogy recorded in multicolored inks. The focal point of the genealogy is Juan Tepetzin, who is dressed in the dark cloak in the bottom center of the document. His forebears, who are depicted above him, are members of the native elite and they are wearing elegant cloaks and sandals and holding bouquets favored by the nobility. Tepetzin's ancestor Yxtletletzin is sheltered within a palace. The document is identified as being from Tlaxcala for a few reasons: the wooden stools on which Tepetzin's male relatives sit and the brick-like upper story of the palace are typical Tlaxcalan works, and similar bouquets and red-netted cloaks are found in the Lienzo of Tlaxcala, a narrative painting of Tlaxcala's Conquest-era history. In this document, two rectangles (one with five plants) were added after the genealogy was painted. These rectangles denote agricultural fields and indicate with the Nahuatl text that Juan Tepetzin took over some abandoned lands. The genealogy therefore relates to a land transfer.