Lot 20
Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca to early Chimu culture, ca. 200 to 1100 CE. A superb and rare woven cotton and camelid wool panel covered with colorful bird feathers forming a grid pattern - over 500 years old and remarkably well preserved! Specialized artisans would attach the feathers onto cords and sew them into the plain textile weave. The feather tips are then cut and shaped to create the desired pattern and pile. Again, the preservation of these feathers is simply astounding, the colors are still quite bright - the blue and red feathers are probably from macaws and the green are perhaps from quetzals. Clothing such as tunics and cloaks were made from feathers for the wealthy and elite, the iridescent colors were spectacular in the sunlight, making naturally dyed cloth pale in comparison! Size of feather textile: 16.5" L x 9.25" W (41.9 cm x 23.5 cm); backing frame: 20.25" L x 13.25" W (51.4 cm x 33.7 cm)
Colorful feathers were prized materials in Andean cultures and used by the elite for clothing and ornaments. Avian motifs and the use of feathers were symbolic in Andean cultures, for birds were sacred animals that could fly between worlds and were messengers for the gods. These ancient cultures had a complex relationship with birds, especially the rainforest species - their stunning plumage was highly desirable and worth nearly the same as precious metals. It is possible that live, caged birds as well as their plucked feathers were imported from the lower altitudes to supply this demand.
Provenance: private Maryville, Tennessee, USA collection, acquired 1999; ex-Economos Works of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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#188273
- Condition: Textile is a fragment from a larger piece. Missing some fibers to threadbare areas on the upper dark blue weave. Missing a few feathers, but most are intact and bright. The feathers are covered in a museum quality netting mesh and professionally mounted on a modern cotton textile over a wooden frame to display and protect the piece.
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