Inca Woven Textile Belt | Star and Diamond Motifs (Framed)

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Inca Empire, ca. 1250–1450 CE. A long warp-faced band woven in camelid fiber and cotton, its crimson ground divided into a continuous march of framed panels in indigo, cream, olive and rose. Each compartment holds an abstract device: eight-pointed stars, stepped diamonds, chevrons and schematic figures, the sequence alternating in color so no two neighbors repeat. Both terminals taper into braided cords finished with tufted ends, the fastening system that let the sash be wound repeatedly about the waist. Belts of this scale served as dress and as declaration, their motif vocabulary legible as markers of status and community affiliation. Presently mounted on cotton cloth over a wooden stretcher for display. Mount: 56.75" W x 19" H (144.1 cm W x 48.3 cm H).

Cloth was the supreme currency of value in the Andes. Inca administration measured tribute in textiles, stockpiled them in state warehouses, and burned them as the highest form of offering; a garment could be a payment, a diplomatic gift, or a sacrifice. Weaving was largely women's labor, from household production to the aqllakuna, the cloistered chosen women who produced the finest cumbi cloth for the emperor and the state cult.

The repeating framed square, or tocapu, is the signature ordering device of late Andean design. Its motifs were not random ornament but a restricted vocabulary of geometric emblems, and scholars have long debated whether particular sequences encoded lineage, rank, place, or something closer to writing. No decipherment commands consensus, but the deliberate, non-repeating alternation of color and device on bands such as this one suggests information rather than mere pattern.

Provenance: Private Chicago collection, acquired from Bettina Schwimmer, Chicago, 1980’s.

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Item #

73249

Condition
Some normal minor repaired edge tatters, and some minor scattered light fading.

Buyer's Premium
30%