Paracas Textile Mantle Border with Hummingbirds, Framed, Ca. 300-100 BCEPre-Columbian,...
Paracas Textile Mantle Border with Hummingbirds, Framed, Ca. 300-100 BCEPre-Columbian, Peru, South Coast, Paracas, ca. 300–100 BCE. A processional flight of hummingbirds runs the length of this alpaca mantle border, worked in the single-needle cross-knit loop stitch that Paracas embroiderers mastered on Peru's south coast. Six sections from a single border are presented together: narrow polychrome bands of serial avians, their long beaks dipped into flower-like elements, framed above and below by looped red tabs and a dense fringe of red, indigo, gold, and green yarns. The mantle body would have been a solid field, with color and narrative reserved entirely for its edges. Such garments were worn by men of standing and ultimately accompanied them into the burial bundle. The sections are mounted on a cotton backing over a wooden stretcher and set in a custom wood frame under glass. Size: 48.75" W x 20.5" H (123.8 cm W x 52.1 cm H).
Paracas textile production is known almost entirely from the necropolis burials of the Paracas Peninsula, where hundreds of mummy bundles were wrapped in layers of embroidered mantles, tunics, and headcloths. The arid desert preserved dyes of extraordinary saturation, and the cross-knit loop stitch, built loop by loop with a single needle rather than woven on a loom, allowed embroiderers to render curvilinear figures impossible in warp-and-weft. The hummingbird style belongs to the linear and block-color repertoire of the late Paracas horizon, when avian imagery, birds of prey, hummingbirds, and composite flying beings, dominated border design. The bird taking nectar carries associations with fertility and transformation that later Nasca artists inherited and elaborated across their ceramics and geoglyphs.
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 #73250The colors are rich and varied with no staining. Some scattered losses as seen in the photos.
Paracas Textile Mantle Border with Hummingbirds, Framed, Ca. 300-100 BCEPre-Columbian, Peru, South Coast, Paracas, ca. 300–100 BCE. A processional flight of hummingbirds runs the length of this alpaca mantle border, worked in the single-needle cross-knit loop stitch that Paracas embroiderers mastered on Peru's south coast. Six sections from a single border are presented together: narrow polychrome bands of serial avians, their long beaks dipped into flower-like elements, framed above and below by looped red tabs and a dense fringe of red, indigo, gold, and green yarns. The mantle body would have been a solid field, with color and narrative reserved entirely for its edges. Such garments were worn by men of standing and ultimately accompanied them into the burial bundle. The sections are mounted on a cotton backing over a wooden stretcher and set in a custom wood frame under glass. Size: 48.75" W x 20.5" H (123.8 cm W x 52.1 cm H).
Paracas textile production is known almost entirely from the necropolis burials of the Paracas Peninsula, where hundreds of mummy bundles were wrapped in layers of embroidered mantles, tunics, and headcloths. The arid desert preserved dyes of extraordinary saturation, and the cross-knit loop stitch, built loop by loop with a single needle rather than woven on a loom, allowed embroiderers to render curvilinear figures impossible in warp-and-weft. The hummingbird style belongs to the linear and block-color repertoire of the late Paracas horizon, when avian imagery, birds of prey, hummingbirds, and composite flying beings, dominated border design. The bird taking nectar carries associations with fertility and transformation that later Nasca artists inherited and elaborated across their ceramics and geoglyphs.
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 #73250The colors are rich and varied with no staining. Some scattered losses as seen in the photos.
