Chancay Openwork Gauze Tunic with Feline BorderPre-Columbian, Peru, Chancay, ca....
Chancay Openwork Gauze Tunic with Feline BorderPre-Columbian, Peru, Chancay, ca. 1000–1425 CE. A short-sleeved midriff-length shirt woven in tightly controlled openwork cotton gauze, its white-on-white ground carrying an allover abstract geometric pattern that may resolve into stylized birds. Bands of processing felines, probably jaguars, march along the sleeve cuffs and lower hem, their faces picked out in brown, and knotted white string fringes finish the edges. The near-monochrome scheme relies wholly on the play of open and closed weave for its imagery, a virtuoso display of loom control. Garments of such fineness were likely worn by persons of rank and ultimately accompanied them into coastal burials, where the arid sands preserved them. Professionally lined with tan cloth, mounted on a lucite armature and set in a custom lucite box frame. custom display box: 57" W x 18.5" H (144.8 cm W x 47.0 cm H).
Chancay weavers of the Peruvian central coast, working the Chancay and Chillon valleys between roughly 1000 and the Inca conquest, are best known for exactly this kind of openwork: leno and warp-crossed gauzes so light they read as woven air. Because the cloth was worked almost exclusively in undyed white cotton, all of the design burden falls on structure rather than color, with figures emerging as densities of thread against voids. Feline processions, along with birds, fish, and stepped frets, form the standard Chancay vocabulary, the cat almost certainly a reference to the pervasive Andean predator-power complex. Survival at this scale owes everything to the near-rainless coastal desert, which preserved textiles in grave bundles where nothing organic should have lasted.
Provenance: Private NYC. collection Ex. E.H. Merrin Gallery Inc., NYC., 1990’s.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73240A sewn repair on the left shoulder on the v-neck area, otherwise overall Excellent condition.
Chancay Openwork Gauze Tunic with Feline BorderPre-Columbian, Peru, Chancay, ca. 1000–1425 CE. A short-sleeved midriff-length shirt woven in tightly controlled openwork cotton gauze, its white-on-white ground carrying an allover abstract geometric pattern that may resolve into stylized birds. Bands of processing felines, probably jaguars, march along the sleeve cuffs and lower hem, their faces picked out in brown, and knotted white string fringes finish the edges. The near-monochrome scheme relies wholly on the play of open and closed weave for its imagery, a virtuoso display of loom control. Garments of such fineness were likely worn by persons of rank and ultimately accompanied them into coastal burials, where the arid sands preserved them. Professionally lined with tan cloth, mounted on a lucite armature and set in a custom lucite box frame. custom display box: 57" W x 18.5" H (144.8 cm W x 47.0 cm H).
Chancay weavers of the Peruvian central coast, working the Chancay and Chillon valleys between roughly 1000 and the Inca conquest, are best known for exactly this kind of openwork: leno and warp-crossed gauzes so light they read as woven air. Because the cloth was worked almost exclusively in undyed white cotton, all of the design burden falls on structure rather than color, with figures emerging as densities of thread against voids. Feline processions, along with birds, fish, and stepped frets, form the standard Chancay vocabulary, the cat almost certainly a reference to the pervasive Andean predator-power complex. Survival at this scale owes everything to the near-rainless coastal desert, which preserved textiles in grave bundles where nothing organic should have lasted.
Provenance: Private NYC. collection Ex. E.H. Merrin Gallery Inc., NYC., 1990’s.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73240A sewn repair on the left shoulder on the v-neck area, otherwise overall Excellent condition.
