Tag: Nazca

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)

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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/ ↩︎

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.

Nazca. Fragment of a Decorative Border, 100 BCE-200 CE. The Art Institute of Chicago®
CC0 Public Domain

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):

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. 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 ↩︎

NOW: Border of warriors – 1956.1267.3a-h

This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a beautiful cross-knit looping example. A border of warriors and their sacrifice, originally intended to be attached to a piece of fabric. If you go to the The Art Institute of Chicago’s website there is a very good zoom function and some close-ups showing the underlying support worked in Simple Looping.

Nazca. Warrior Fragments, 100 BCE-200 CE. The Art Institute of Chicago®
CC0 Public Domain

Object: Border of warriors

Description: A border of warriors and a sacrifice. The figures are about 2.5 inches tall. More details on The Art Institute of Chicago’s website.

Dated to: 100 BCE–200 CE1

Culture: Nazca2

Find location: South coast, Peru3

Material: Cotton (ground), Camelid wool4

Stitch(es) used: Simple Looping for the ground support, cross-knit looping and cross-knit loop stitch embroidery5

Inventory number: 1956.1267.3a-h

Current location: The Art Institute of Chicago®

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Sawyer, Alan R. Early Nasca Needlework. London: Laurence King Publishing, 1997. pg. 148, color fig. 117.

Photographs (if permissions allow):

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. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments ↩︎
  2. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments ↩︎
  3. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments ↩︎
  4. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments ↩︎
  5. The Art Institute of Chicago® https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148858/warrior-fragments ↩︎

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 ↩︎