Sampler

Textiles

A.D. 1/200

Nazca
Peru, south coast, Nazca Valley, Coyungo

Images of birds are often presented in polychrome ceramics and textiles created by Nazca artists. the birds depicted in this panel are delicately rendered in white outlining and colored highlights, with embroidery reminiscent of earlier Paracas needlework. In their beaks, they carry various flora along with crustaceans, fish, insects, snakes, spiders, and worms. The design may have deeper meaning, using the food chain as a metaphor for transformation. There is a group of several similar examples of embroidered birds of Nazca origin, often referred to as samplers. Some scholars theorize that these works relate to a specific workshop or are evidence of strict guidelines and regulations for production.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Culture: Nasca
Title: Sampler
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 1 CE–200 CE
Medium: Cotton, plain weave; embroidered with cotton and wool (camelid) in back, cross, double running, running, satin, and stem stitches
Dimensions: 60 × 37.8 cm (23 5/8 × 14 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Edwin A. Seipp
Reference Number: 1956.75
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/2059/manifest.json

Christa Charlotte Mayer, Masterpieces of Western Textiles from The Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1969), 14, pl. 2.
Virginia Churchil Bath, Embroidery Masterworks. Classic patterns and techniques for contemporary application (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1972), 4-7.
Alan R. Sawyer, Early Nasca Needlework (London: Laurence King Publishing, 1997), 72-75, color fig. 51.

Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces of Western Textiles, Jan. 25–Mar. 2, 1969, cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Mar. 17-June 11, 1986.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Jan. 17-June 17, 1991.
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, African and Ancient American Art, Jan. 29-Mar. 23, 1998.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Feb. 7-Apr. 5, 2001.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, May 21-Sept. 23, 2014.

Pablo Soldi, Ica, Peru, by May 21, 1956 [incoming receipt RX1913, May 21, 1956, sent care of Rudolfo Byrne, Brooklyn, NY; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1956.

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.