The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions: Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru

Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru

		Miniature Tunic Wari or Inka; 7th–16th century Reportedly from Ullujaya, lower Ica Valley, south coast Cotton, feathers; 8 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (21 x 23.5 cm) Private collection See the other side of this miniature tunic.

This miniature tunic is part of a group of more than one hundred similar small items of clothing reportedly found in a cache in the Ica Valley in southern Peru. Their dating and cultural attribution are problematic because the site yielded materials from different time periods; some are said to have been found with objects dating from the last few centuries before the conquest. Miniature tunics usually have a U-shaped yoke or half oval on the front in a small range of colors. A feather in a contrasting color often indicates the neck opening. The miniature tunics and dresses are about one-fourth to one-third the size of full-size garments. They are not functional clothing that could have been put on effigies since the openings for heads and arms are sewn closed. Although the meaning of miniature garments in ancient Andean cultures is unclear, their use was widespread and ancient. They may have been symbolic substitutions for full-size garments in votive contexts.