Tag: Camelid

NOW: Inca Wig Cap 41-52-30/2948

Inca Wig Cap. Object number: 41-52-30/2948
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

Another type of nalbound objects we see quite frequently in museums are wig caps from Inca era Peru. Thus, this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is an Inca wig cap. The skull cap portion is made using S-crossed Simple Looping.

Object: Inca Wig Cap

Description: A light colored skull cap with a narrower dark brown and a larger brown stripe around it with around 120 braids hanging from the lower edge. These 3 strand braids have multicolored, red, green, blue, white, brown, wrappings on their bottom half. Overall dimensions are 37 x 9 7/16 in. (94 x 24 cm).

Dated to: Late Horizon (1476-1532 CE), Inca1

Find location: South Coast of Nazca Province, Ica Region, Peru2

Material: The cap is made of three colors of z-2s cotton. The braids of dark colored human hair. The wraps around the braids are camelid yarn.3

Stitch(es) used: S-crossed Simple Looping4

Inventory number: Object Number 41-52-30/2948

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

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0#

Inca Wig Cap. Object number: 41-52-30/2948
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

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/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  3. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  4. Peabody Museum identifies this as Simple Looping https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024. That the Simple Looping is S-crossed was determined by Anne Marie Decker based on the photograph provided. ↩︎

NOW: Nazca band with Birds & Flowers Am1931,1123.21.a

The Nazca were masters of figural nalbinding. Today’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a fragment of a brightly colored band with birds alternating with flowers coming out of it and flowers growing out of both sides as well. I had the honor of examining this one in person in October of 2019.

Am1931,1123.21.a is fragmentary. We don’t know the full extent of the original piece.
© The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Object: Band with Birds & many Flowers

Description: Starting with a red band worked in the round that is approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, with the tails and wings of the bird integral on both sides, the breast, head, and beaks of the birds are worked out of the center of one side. There is a flower worked out of the center of the band for each bird to sip from between each bird. Flowers also extend from both sides of the band making the total width just under 3 inches (just under 8 cm) on average. Putting the pieces together, I measured the central band as 37 cm long.1

Dated to: 100-400 CE2

Find location: Nazca, Peru3

Material: 2 ply Z-spun S-plied Camelid wool.4 Further investigation may reveal that some of the yarns or plies of yarns come from other sources as they do not have the same texture as the majority.

Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed Cross-knit Looping5 (specific crossing determined by Anne Marie Decker during examination in October 2019)

Gauge: Approximately 19 stitches to the inch and 28 rows to the inch (approx 8 stitches and 11 rows per cm)

Inventory number: Am1931,1123.21.a

Current location: The British Museum Textile Centre

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Pardo, Cecilia and Jago Cooper, ed. Peru: A Journey in Time. British Museum 2021. ISBN 9780714124926. Pgs. 92-93.

Photographs (if permissions allow):

This is a zoomed in and cropped version of the British Museum’s image of Am1931,1123.21.a showing one of the birds on the band and associated flowers.
The British Museum’s online catalog has a beautiful zoom function. Go to the site to see more details.
© The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
The fragment in the British Museum may have been part of a larger piece similar to this 2nd century BCE Nazca Border Fragment 
Accession Number: 31.20.1
Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Public Domain

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.

  1. Length: 8 centimetres Width: 39 centimetres according to https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a Accessed 14 June 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a Accessed 14 June 2024 ↩︎
  3. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a Accessed 14 June 2024 ↩︎
  4. Plies determined by Anne Marie Decker during October 2019 examination. Camelid wool according to https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a Accessed 14 June 2024 ↩︎
  5. Cross-knit Loop stitch according to https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1931-1123-21-a Accessed 14 June 2024 ↩︎

NOW: Wari Four-cornered Hat 1983.497.7

Sometimes nalbinding is combined with other techniques to make a artifact. My sincere thanks to Niina-Hannele Nuutinen for bringing this particular artifact to my attention. Generally the four-cornered hats of the Wari, from 8th-10th c. Peru, are knotted. This one is knotted with pile sides, but the top is Simple Looping. So this week’s Nalbound Object of the week is actually only partially nalbound.

1983.497.7 Wari four-cornered hat with Simple Looping top.
Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Public Domain CC0

Object: Wari Four-cornered Hat with Simple Looping top

Description: A four-cornered brightly colored hat made with knotted pile in a lozenge pattern. The four corners have colored tassels. The top is Simple Looping worked in four differently colored bands from the sides of the hat to the top. The hat is 5 1/2 inches high and 5 3/4 inches wide (14 × 14.6 cm).1

Dated to: 8th–10th century2

Find location: The Wari culture was centered in the central Peruvian highland valley of Ayacucho. Wari pile hats with provenance come from the south or central coast of Peru.3 The exact provenance of this hat is unspecified.

Material: camelid hair4

Stitch(es) used: Larkshead Knotting with supplementary pile sides5 with Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O, in for the top (Top stitch determination by Anne Marie Decker from photographs)

Inventory number: 1983.497.7

Current location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Frame, Mary. Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990, pp. 18–19, pl. 8.

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.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024. Mary Frame gives different measurements, h. 15.2 cm; c. 50.2, in Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa. ↩︎
  2. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024 ↩︎
  3. Frame, Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa pg. 10 ↩︎
  4. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024 ↩︎
  5. Frame, Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa pg. 28 ↩︎

NOW: Cap with Lizard T 10298

While preparing last week’s Nalbound Object of the Week, I discovered another fascinating piece of nalbinding in the MAK. This week brings us a new (to me) Peruvian cap with figural work on it. In this case, it’s a lizard! You will need to go to the MAK’s online catalog to see a photo, https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216, as the MAK’s photos are not CC or public domain.

Object: Cap with Lizard

Description: A brown cap with a row and the central top in cream and brown lizard with cream highlights standing on top.

Dated to: 1400-1532 CE1

Find location: Peru2

Material: Camelid, plant fiber, cotton3

Stitch(es) used: S-Crossed Simple Looping,4 B1 U (stitch determined from photograph by Anne Marie Decker)

Inventory number: T 10298

Current location: Museum für angewandte Kunst MAK (Museum of Applied Arts)

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216

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://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  2. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  3. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  4. The MAK specifies the technique used as “Schlingtechnik” [looping technique], but does not specify which particular variant. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎

NOW: Cap with Puppies 1964.52.1

The collection of Peruvian nalbinding is full of beautiful figural work. This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is one of my favorites: a small cap with a dog nursing her puppies.1

A small dark brown cap/fascinator with a light brown edge and a striped mother dog nursing her three striped puppies.
Photo: The Textile Museum – Public Domain

Object: Peruvian cap with puppies

Description: The cap is a slightly ovaloid shape just under 6 inches in diameter (5.5 x 5.75 inches) and 1.5 inches high (3.81 H x 14.60 W x 13.97 D cm).2 On top of the cap is a striped “dog” nursing three striped “puppies” worked in 3 dimensional figural nalbinding.

We know of several other caps from Peru in this time frame with figural work on them. One in purple and white stripes with a chicken head. Another in red and yellows with two birds on top.

Dated to: 1000-15003

Find location: Peru, probably coastal4

Material: camelid5 (meaning unspecified fiber off the alpaca or llama or other variety of camelid animals6)

Stitch(es) used: S-crossed Simple Looping, B1 U, (museum record says Cross-knit Looping,7 but image shows a surface texture of Simple Looping or possibly Pierced Looping)

Inventory number: Accession Number: 1964.52.1

Current location: The Textile Museum

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Rogers, George (Author). “Calendar” in The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum Bulletin, Washington, D.C., 1990, vol. Spring, p. 8.

The Textile Museum. An Introduction to Textile Terms, Washington DC: The Textile Museum, 1997.

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. Looping in An Introduction to Textile Terms, Washington DC: The Textile Museum, 1997. ↩︎
  2. Dimensions: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/ ↩︎
  3. Date: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/ ↩︎
  4. Geography: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/ ↩︎
  5. Materials: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/ ↩︎
  6. An interesting article regarding the difficulties in identifying between the 4 types of camelids in South America in the archeological record can be found in Paloma Diaz-Maroto, Alba Rey-Iglesia, Isabel Cartajena, Lautaro Núñez, Michael V Westbury, Valeria Varas, Mauricio Moraga, Paula F Campos, Pablo OrozcoterWengel, Juan Carlos Marin, Anders J Hansen (2021) Ancient DNA reveals the lost domestication history of South American camelids in Northern Chile and across the Andes eLife 10:e63390 at https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.63390/ ↩︎
  7. Structure: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/165/, but the diagram in An Introduction to Textile Terms, Washington DC: The Textile Museum, 1997 for Looping, which is illustrated with this cap, shows alternating rows of S- and Z-crossed Simple Looping, not Cross-knit Looping. ↩︎