Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles
Comb with Birds
Title
Comb with Birds
Description
Tiny rows of birds adorn this very special, yet useable comb. The weaver used the tines as the warps. Unwoven tines go through the hair, but also simulate fringe on a textile. Here the colors feature the typical Chancay palette of soft golds, pinks, and red.
The high-status red dye cochineal yields the tones from brilliant scarlet to pale pink. Cochineal is a rare and permanent red dye, one that the Spanish later controlled in the world market and made a fortune almost as large as that garnered from Inka gold and silver.
Geographic Area
South America, Central Andes, Central Coast
Culture
Chancay
Date
Late Intermediate Period, ca. 1000-1470 AD
Materials
Camelid fiber, wood
Credit Line
Gift of Cora W. and Laurence C. Witten II
Accession Number
1992.15.289
Photo Credit
Photo by Michael McKelvey