Cleveland Museum of Art

Two Textile Fragment with Fanged Heads

Date

500–200 BCE

Medium

cotton: plain weave patterned by fiber-wrapped warps and supplementary wefts

Culture

Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Chavín style

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

These two rare fragments of equal size and mounted side by side feature fanged heads connected by a fanged mouth band. Each band ascends as a column above a rectangular, disembodied eye that implies the original presence of large figures or heads beneath the bands. Fanged heads are common markers of the supernatural in Chavín art, an early style that developed in the highlands of Peru. The original textile may have served as a ceremonial wall hanging. Fanged heads are common markers of the supernatural in Chavín art.

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