Fragment

Textiles

A.D. 200/900

Nazca or Wari
Peru, south coast, Nazca Valley, Tunga

Geometric patterns are common in Andean textile art. Although it may appear simple at first look, this panel is far more elaborate than meets the eye: the geometric designs presented here were formed using multiple techniques, with the weaving of the blue and red half-step frets, the outlining in white embroidery, and the edging in cross-knit loop stitches. This pattern creates an overall checkerboard of color, with the juxtaposed colored surfaces further combining to create full-step frets.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Culture: Nasca
Title: Fragment
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 200 CE–900 CE
Medium: Wool (camelid), plain weave of discontinuous warps and wefts; embroidered in double running stitches; edged with cross-knit loop stitches
Dimensions: 55.9 × 68.6 cm (22 × 27 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Henry G. Barkhausen
Reference Number: 1956.170
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/2255/manifest.json

Jane W. Rehl, Weaving Metaphors, Weaving Cosmos: Structure, Creativity and Meaning in Discontinuous Warp and Weft Textiles of Ancient Peru, 300 B.C.E.-1540 C.E. (Ph.D. diss., Emory University, 2003), 647, cat. 142, fig. 142.

Sount Bend, IN, Art Gallery of the University of Notre Dame, Art of Ancient Peru, Dec. 20, 1961-Jan. 28, 1962.
Durham, NC, Woman’s College Library of Duke University, Art and Artifacts of Pre-Columbian Peru, Dec. 17, 1964-Jan. 20, 1965.
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 Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, May 10-Oct. 27, 1994.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Jan. 29-Mar. 24, 1998.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Feb. 7-July 5, 2001.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, Aug.-Nov. 23, 2005.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of African and Amerindian Art, May 21-Sept. 23, 2014.

Pablo Soldi, Ica, Peru, by Oct. 26, 1956 [incoming receipt RX2032, Oct. 26, 1956; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1956.

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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.