NOW: Border fragment with three figures – 1956.405

The figural work found in the decorative borders made by the Nazca people is stunningly beautiful and detailed. This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a beautiful sample of their cross-knit looped borders. This fragment has three very distinct figures. The Art Institute of Chicago’s website has very nice closeups of both sides and a very good zoom function if you’d like to see more.

Object: Fragment of a Decorative Border 1956.405

Description: A border fragment with three figures. The figures are about 2.5 inches tall. The piece is 11.4 × 6.7 cm (4 1/2 × 2 5/8 in.)¹

Dated to: 100 BCE-200 CE²

Culture: Nazca³

Find location: Possibly Coyungo, Nasca Valley, south coast, Peru⁴

Material: Cotton (plain woven ground), Camelid wool⁵

Stitch(es) used: The band’s ground support is plain weave and the extension supports are simple looping. The ground is encased in the decorative cross-knit looping⁶

Inventory number: 1956.405

Current location: The Art Institute of Chicago®

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Sawyer, Alan R. Early Nasca Needlework. London: Laurence King Publishing, 1997. pg. 149, fig. 119 and 120 (ill.).

Melo, Alipio, María José Murillo, and Danitza Willka. “The Heartbeat of Andean Weaving,” in On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival, eds. Isaac Facio, Nneka Kai, L Vinebaum, and Anne Wilson, exh. cat. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025. pg. 164, fig. 3 (ill.).

Photographs (if permissions allow):

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1. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎
2. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎
3. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎
4. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎
5. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎
6. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/3000/fragment-of-a-decorative-border ↩︎