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Tunic

7th–9th century
Not on view
In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Wari peoples of Peru exerted strong cultural and political influence over the southern coastal and highland regions from their capital city, also called Wari (a few miles northeast of present-day Ayacucho). They introduced a distinctive art style, found on fine polychrome ceramics, exquisite personal ornaments crafted of precious materials, expertly carved works in wood, shell, and stone, and especially on elaborate textiles.

The elegant tapestry-woven tunics, thought to have been the most prestigious garments, were woven with up to eighteen miles of handspun camelid hair, probably from alpacas. The knee-length, mostly sleeveless tapestry tunics are standardized in size, format, color, and design, suggesting they were produced in state-sponsored workshops. The imagery, arranged in registers in vertical bands, is limited to a few repeated motifs—such as the stepped frets and profile faces with split eyes seen here—which are often abstracted, distorted, contracted, or expanded beyond recognition.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tunic
  • Date: 7th–9th century
  • Geography: Peru
  • Culture: Wari
  • Medium: Cotton, camelid hair
  • Dimensions: H. 43 1/4 x W. 40 in. (109.9 x 101.6cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Woven
  • Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
  • Object Number: 1979.206.461
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

More Artwork

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Shirt, Moche artist(s), Camelid hair, cotton, Moche
Shirt
Moche artist(s)
500–850 CE
Tunic with Confronting Catfish, Camelid hair, tapestry-weave, Nasca-Wari
Tunic with Confronting Catfish
Nasca-Wari
800–850 CE
Tunic Fragment, Camelid hair, cotton, Wari
Tunic Fragment
Wari
7th–9th century
Four-Cornered Hat, Camelid hair, cotton, Wari
Four-Cornered Hat
Wari
7th–9th century
Tapestry Tunic, Camelid wool, Wari
Tapestry Tunic
Wari
7th–9th century

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