Headcloth

Textiles

1000-1476

Chancay
Central coast, Peru

In the ancient Andes, weavers of different societies continually developed distinct techniques to manipulate their looms. Chancay weavers perfected gauze weaving—in which they crossed pairs of vertical warp threads to hold the horizontal wefts in place—in order to make sheer fabrics like this one. They used the natural colors of coastal Andean cotton—now called Pima cotton—spun into very fine threads. Chancay peoples seem to have worn such textiles on their heads, perhaps to shield them from blowing sands in the desert. The garment’s fish designs reflect this maritime locale.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Culture: Chancay
Title: Headcloth
Place: Peru (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1000–1476
Medium: Cotton, plain gauze weave; embroidered in knotted couching
Dimensions: 99.1 × 99.1 cm (39 × 39 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Edward H. Merrin
Reference Number: 1984.121
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/102176/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report (1983-84): 22, fig. 20 (ill.).
Richard Townsend with Elizabeth Pope, Indian Art of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago with Yale University Press, 2016), 357, cat 334 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Mexican, Central, and South American Textiles: A Living Legacy, Oct. 28, 1992-Jan. 17, 1993.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Dec. 18, 2002-May 2, 2003.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Gallery 136, Jan. 22-May 21, 2013.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes, Feb. 23-June 16, 2019, no cat.

Vivian Merrin, New York, by Jan. 29, 1983 [letter from Vivian Merrin, Jan. 29, 1983; copy in curatorial object file; on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from June 1, 1983, loan number 393.1983]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1984.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.