Art Institute of Chicago

Panel

Lambayeque

Date

1000-1476

Medium

Cotton and wool (camelid), slit tapestry weave with eccentric and wrapping outlining wefts and uncut weft loop pile; embroidered with wool (camelid) in couching stitch; slit tapestry weave with eccentric wefts, finished with extended weft loop fringe; cotton, plain weave; joined by overcast stitches

Culture

Peru

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

For this colorful panel, two figures stand in frontal view. They wear large crescent headdresses and hold staffs; they also are shown with prominent noses and distinctive ear ornaments. The combination of these features and regalia is characteristic of the "Sicán Lord," a figure believed to represent the humanized version of Naymlap, a legendary ancestral lord in the Lambayeque region who was said to have evaded death by growing wings and flying away. The sides and bottom borders of this panel are filled with round motifs—rendered using a variety of color combinations—that may represent bundles of gathered cotton or cotton bolls.

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