Browse Items (35 total)

Several hundred of these effigy figures, completely made from fiber, remain from graves in the dry coastal sands of the Chancay Valley in central Perú. Reeds provide the basic structure, which is then dressed in miniature garments—here a skirt,…

High-status headwear was always the prerogative of the elites in ancient Andean societies. In the Wari Empire, the pre-Inka state that dominated much of the Central Andes ca. 600–1000 AD, officials wore small, four-sided hats that sat high on their…

Most Native Americans consider bird feathers not only beautiful, but sacred gifts from the Winged Beings since molted feathers fall on the ground as if from the celestial realm. Tropical feathers especially exhibit brilliant natural coloration.…

The imagery on this band may be a challenge to decipher (see drawing above), but features a series of feathers. The quills quite realistically change from brown to tan and the down is again shown accurately as white. However, at each end of the…

Like the fragments of hummingbirds, this technically unique three-dimensional embroidery was stitched on the south coast of Perú around 200 AD. Originally, like the hummingbirds, these bean people were attached as borders to a plain-woven cloth…

These fragments of an innovative and unique technique date to ca. 200 AD and were made by the Nasca. They originally belonged to the same mantle, but ended up in two different university museum collections: Emory’s (the larger fragment) and…

Unlike today’s synthetic dyes that can produce any color— whether dark, light, or even florescent—in pre-Industrial times certain hues and values (colors and their relative darkness) were more difficult to attain than others. Using natural…

The textile artists of the ancient Andes, such as the Chancay of the central coast, invented nearly every known fiber-working technique, including the unique embroidered openwork seen at left and right. While it may resemble lace, it is first loosely…

Writing—recording information in a format that others at the time and later can decipher—was accomplished by the Inka Empire of South America using thousands of knotted string devices known as khipu. In the Carlos collection there are two other…

The two fragments of this tunic from the far north coast of Perú are shown with the larger remaining portion facing out and the smaller one showing the side worn toward the wearer’s body. In other words, the whole tunic was covered with red…