Art Institute of Chicago

Tassel

Nasca

Date

500-900

Medium

Wool (camelid), oblique interlinked and interlaced warp (sprang); crossknit looping over folded unworked warps; sides joined with wool (camelid) in overcast stitch

Culture

Peru

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Woven tassels were worn in pairs, attached to a long cord that wrapped around a person’s head, with one tassel falling to each side. Several dozen of these large and elaborately patterned tassels are known, all with the same shape and structure. The tassels were made via a complex technique that produced multiple interconnected layers and mirror-image symmetry. The complexity of Nazca textiles like these far exceeds functional or representational requirements, suggesting that there is symbolic meaning embedded in the structure itself.

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