Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment of Embroidered Cloth

Date

c. 300–100 BCE

Medium

embroidery on plain wool ground

Culture

Peru, South Coast, Paracas, Late Period

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The repetition of a nonmythical figure, in this case a warrior holding spears and a trophy head, was one of the important innovations of Paracas textile design during the Late Paracas period. The trophy head cult was an essential aspect of crop fertility and was, therefore, a focal point of Paracas art in general. Extremely dry conditions on Peru's desert coast allow for the extraordinary preservation of textiles.

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