Nazca Munekas Textile Border Panels with Knit Figures, Framed (3)Pre-Columbian,...
Nazca Munekas Textile Border Panels with Knit Figures, Framed (3)Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca, ca. 100–600 CE. A parade of some 190 tiny knit figures marches across three mantle border sections, worked in dyed alpaca fiber by the single-needle cross-knit looping technique for which the south coast of Peru is famous. Each doll stands in the round on two legs, arms linked to its neighbors and batons in hand, its torso patterned with a stepped motif that mimics woven garment design. Faces are fierce and individual: red, blue, ochre and cream, with bared teeth and staring eyes. The dark fringe of the mantle doubles as the figures' hair. Such borders finished elite mantles and shrouds, likely destined for funerary bundles. The sections are mounted on an original panel of plain blue woven cloth, sewn to a cotton backing and stretched over a wooden frame. Frame: 68" W x 27" H (172.7 cm W x 68.6 cm H).
Three-dimensional cross-knit looping, built up with a single needle rather than a loom, is the signature achievement of Paracas Necropolis and early Nazca textile workshops. The technique allowed embroiderers to build fully sculptural figures at the edge of a plain-weave cloth, so the border became a miniature population rather than a pattern. Collectors have long called these figures "munekas", little dolls, though the ranked, baton-bearing personages more likely represent participants in a procession or ritual dance, a subject repeated across Nazca ceramics and painted cloth. The dyes, drawn from local plants, insects and mineral sources, retain a saturation the arid coastal burial environment preserved for two millennia.
Provenance: Private Chicago collection, acquired from Bettina Schwimmer, Chicago, 1980’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 #73253Some scattered losses, to approximately four dolls, mostly to their legs.
Nazca Munekas Textile Border Panels with Knit Figures, Framed (3)Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca, ca. 100–600 CE. A parade of some 190 tiny knit figures marches across three mantle border sections, worked in dyed alpaca fiber by the single-needle cross-knit looping technique for which the south coast of Peru is famous. Each doll stands in the round on two legs, arms linked to its neighbors and batons in hand, its torso patterned with a stepped motif that mimics woven garment design. Faces are fierce and individual: red, blue, ochre and cream, with bared teeth and staring eyes. The dark fringe of the mantle doubles as the figures' hair. Such borders finished elite mantles and shrouds, likely destined for funerary bundles. The sections are mounted on an original panel of plain blue woven cloth, sewn to a cotton backing and stretched over a wooden frame. Frame: 68" W x 27" H (172.7 cm W x 68.6 cm H).
Three-dimensional cross-knit looping, built up with a single needle rather than a loom, is the signature achievement of Paracas Necropolis and early Nazca textile workshops. The technique allowed embroiderers to build fully sculptural figures at the edge of a plain-weave cloth, so the border became a miniature population rather than a pattern. Collectors have long called these figures "munekas", little dolls, though the ranked, baton-bearing personages more likely represent participants in a procession or ritual dance, a subject repeated across Nazca ceramics and painted cloth. The dyes, drawn from local plants, insects and mineral sources, retain a saturation the arid coastal burial environment preserved for two millennia.
Provenance: Private Chicago collection, acquired from Bettina Schwimmer, Chicago, 1980’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 #73253Some scattered losses, to approximately four dolls, mostly to their legs.
