Tag: Figural

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. ↩︎
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