Art Institute of Chicago

Panel

Possibly Chimú

Date

1250-1470

Medium

Cotton and camelid wool, slit tapestry weave with eccentric wefts

Culture

Peru

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Chimú artists commonly repeated abstract motifs in a regular pattern, as seen here in the arrangement of zoomorphic figures within three rows of squares bordered with motifs that suggest waves and stepped triangles. Some of the animal forms on the panel resemble splayed frogs; others resist identification. The staffs held by these creatures may connect them to the humanlike ones that frequently appear in Chimú textiles, such as this loincloth also in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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