Month: March 2026

NOW: Toy Viscachas – 46-77-30/7651A

Today we get a third viscacha for this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week. There were three viscachas figures found in a grave in Nazca, Peru. (I’ve included a picture of a live viscacha below for those of us less familiar with what exactly one looks like.) They are just a few examples of the figural nalbinding found in Peru.

Effigy, viscachas, looped. Object number: 46-77-30/7651A
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/ Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions

Object: Viscachas effigy

Description: Worked in yellow and dark brown yarn around a solid core, the figure includes the pointed ears, nose, and long tail of a viscacha. Overall: 10.5 x 1.5 x 3 cm (4 1/8 x 9/16 x 1 3/16 in.)1

Dated to: Early Intermediate period
Nazca2

Find location: Nazca, Peru3

Material: camelid4

Stitch(es) used: (Simple) Looping.5

Object number: 46-77-30/7651A

Current location: Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60

Pictures:

A vizcacha (Lagidium viscacia) in the Sur Lipez desert, Bolivia.
Photo: Alexandre Buisse (Nattfodd), CC BY-SA 3.0

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60 ↩︎
  2. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60. Estimated to 200 BCE to 600 CE as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodization_of_pre-Columbian_Peru ↩︎
  3. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60 ↩︎
  4. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60 ↩︎
  5. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/100407?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=60 ↩︎

NOW: Chancay doll – Am1909,1207.191

This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a Chancay culture doll from Peru. The Chancay culture isn’t well known, but there is a known tradition of burial dolls. I first ran across this type of doll in 2019 while in the UK to examine other nalbound objects.

© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Object: Chancay doll

Description: Length: 13.50 cm Width: 9 cm1

Dated to: Chancay 900-1430 CE2

Find location: Peru3

Material: Wood, cotton, camelid wool (the looping is cotton and camelid wool)4

Stitch(es) used: S-crossed Simple Looping (as determine by Anne Marie Decker based on the photographs)

Inventory number: Am1909,1207.1915

Current location: British Museum

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Photographs: There are two additional photos on the British Museum’s website.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191 ↩︎
  2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191 ↩︎
  3. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191 ↩︎
  4. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191 ↩︎
  5. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1909-1207-191 ↩︎

NOW: Beans & Faces border fragment – 2011.20.5

The Walters Art Museum has a lovely example of a border fragment from Peru worked in Z-crossed Cross-knit looping variant that is this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week. The central band has beans worked out of the upper edge and fully haired faces hanging below.

Detail of Tunic Border Piece, 2011.20.5, The Walters Art Museum (CC0)

Object: Tunic Border Piece

Description: Primarily worked in red, yellow, and blue camelid fiber with accents in white and dark brown, this piece is a beautiful example of both the beans and faces motifs that are seen quite a few examples. The “hair” fringe is in very nice condition. The height including fringe is 5 inches. Overall the piece is 64 inches long. (12.7 x 162.56 cm)1

Dated to: Nazca, 100-200 CE2

Find location: Nazca, South Coast, Peru3

Material: Camelid4

Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed Cross-knit Looping (as determined by Anne Marie Decker based on the photograph)

Inventory number: 2011.20.55

Current location: The Walters Art Museum

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/

Photographs: There are additional detail photos on The Walters Art Museum’s website.

Tunic Border Piece, 2011.20.5, The Walters Art Museum (CC0)

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/ ↩︎
  2. https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/ ↩︎
  3. https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/ ↩︎
  4. https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/ ↩︎
  5. https://art.thewalters.org/object/2011.20.5/ ↩︎