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Object Timeline

1949

  • We acquired this object.

2013

2024

  • You found it!

Band (Peru)

This is a Band. It is dated 100 BC–800 AD and we acquired it in 1949. Its medium is cotton and wool and its technique is tapestry weave; 3 sections: a) slit tapestry, b) slit tapestry with non-horizontal wefts and weft wrapping, and c) slit tapestry, use of non-horizontal wefts. It is a part of the Textiles department.

The fine weaving of this narrow band, with eccentric wefts that follow the diagonals of the design, marks it as a special item. Among the brilliantly dyed blue, yellow and red yarns, a fuzzy, coffee-colored yarn stands out. The fiber source may be an extremely fine camelid, such as the wild guanaco, or rabbit hair, or viscacha-- the precious chinchilla whose soft, silky hair was so prized by the Andean people. These fibers, identifiable by their texture and color, signal luxury and possibly religious meaning. The cloudlike, arched forms are followed by the zigzag design, a universal representation of lightning. Among the Inca, lightning represented a major god known as Llalapa, lending an aura of mystical or shamanistic engagement to the workings of the universe that may have been thought come into play through the wearing of this band.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Erskine Hewitt.

  • Bowl (Germany)
  • kiln-formed fused glass.
  • This acquisition made possible through Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.
  • 1983-11-1

Its dimensions are

H x W: 3.5 x 59.1 cm (1 3/8 x 23 1/4 in.)

Cite this object as

Band (Peru); cotton and wool; H x W: 3.5 x 59.1 cm (1 3/8 x 23 1/4 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Erskine Hewitt; 1949-118-1-a

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18612919/ |title=Band (Peru) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>