Feathered Crown

Para español, véase más abajo.

The corpus of featherworks that has survived to the present day, along with accounts written by sixteenth-century Spanish chroniclers who described Andean traditions at the time of the Inca Empire, suggest that feathers in ancient Peru were mainly used to embellish tunics or tabards, headdresses, and accessories that high-ranking individuals wore or exchanged during ceremonies and festive occasions. Feathers were chosen primarily for their radiant colors, striking iridescence, and silken textures, properties that could not be easily achieved with natural fabric dyes. In addition to using feathers from birds native to the coast and highlands, from the seventh century onwards Andean artists increasingly incorporated the bright feathers of Amazonian birds into their creations, a tradition that slowly disappeared in the early sixteenth century, after the Spanish conquest.

Created by featherworkers of the Chimú culture on Peru’s North Coast in the centuries before the rise of the Inca, this diminutive crown features an intricate framework. The base was made of closely tied cane reeds held together by copper bars surrounded by thin layers of cotton cloth and animal skin. On top of them all an ancient adhesive was added, which held the tiny violet, turquoise, orange, and green feathers, most likely from the Paradise Tanager (Tangara chilensis), in a checkerboard pattern. The feathers on top of the crown came from a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna). This object and others in the museum’s collection (see, for example, 1987.394.656, 1987.394.671) are said to be from single tomb found ca. 1968-1969 in the Chancay Valley, north of Lima. All the components of this find are miniatures: vessels, musical instruments, items of clothing, tools, weapons, and even effigies of flowers and trees. While initially believed to be children’s toys (these were said to have been found in a child’s burial), they are most likely votive offerings, ritually buried to petition the gods for favors, a tradition that peaked in Inca times.

Carol Rodríguez, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie Scholar in Residence, 2025

References

King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pp. 198-199, fig. 66.

Rowe, Ann P. Costumes and Featherwork of the Lords of Chimor: Textiles from Peru's North Coast. Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1984, p. 156, no. 156.

Further Reading

Candela, Iria, and Joanne Pillsbury. Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023.

King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012.

Rowe, Ann P. Costumes and Featherwork of the Lords of Chimor: Textiles from Peru's North Coast. Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1984.

Wilkinson, Darryl. “The Influence of Amazonia on State Formation in the Ancient Andes.” Antiquity, volume 92, issue 365 (October 2018).

El corpus de objetos decorados con plumas que existe hoy en día, junto con los relatos escritos por los cronistas españoles del siglo XVI que describen las tradiciones andinas en la época del Imperio Inca, sugieren que las plumas en el antiguo Perú se utilizaban principalmente para embellecer túnicas o tabardos, tocados, y accesorios que individuos de alto estatus vestían o intercambiaban durante ceremonias y ocasiones festivas. Las plumas eran elegidas principalmente por sus colores radiantes, su llamativa iridiscencia y sus texturas sedosas, propiedades que no podían conseguirse fácilmente con tintes naturales para textiles. Además de utilizar plumas de aves nativas de la costa y la sierra, a partir del siglo VII los artistas andinos incorporaron cada vez más las brillantes plumas de las aves amazónicas, una tradición que desapareció lentamente a principios del siglo XVI tras la conquista española.

Creada por artistas de la cultura Chimú de la costa norte del Perú, en los siglos anteriores al auge de los incas, esta pequeña corona presenta un tejido intrincado. La base está elaborada con cañas de junco estrechamente unidas por varillas de cobre rodeadas de finas capas de tela de algodón y piel de animal. Sobre ellas se ha añadido un antiguo adhesivo que sujetaba en forma de ajedrez las diminutas plumas de color violeta, turquesa, naranja y verde, probablemente procedentes de la tangara del paraíso (Tangara chilensis). Las plumas de la parte superior de la corona proceden del guacamayo azul y amarillo (Ara ararauna). Se dice que este objeto y otros en la colección del museo (ver, por ejemplo, 1987.394.656, 1987.394.671) formaron parte de una tumba descubierta hacia 1968-1969 en el valle de Chancay, al norte de Lima. Todos los componentes de este hallazgo son miniaturas: vasijas, instrumentos musicales, vestimentas, herramientas, armas e incluso efigies de flores y árboles. Aunque al principio se pensó que eran juguetes para niños (se dice que estas piezas fueron halladas en el entierro de un infante), es más probable que se trate de ofrendas enterradas ritualmente para pedir favores a los dioses, una tradición que alcanzó su apogeo en el tiempo de los incas.

Carol Rodríguez, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie Scholar in Residence, 2025

Referencias

King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pp. 198-199, fig. 66.

Rowe, Ann P. Costumes and Featherwork of the Lords of Chimor: Textiles from Peru's North Coast. Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1984, p. 156, no. 156.

Lecturas adicionales

Candela, Iria, y Joanne Pillsbury. Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023.

King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012.

Rowe, Ann P. Costumes and Featherwork of the Lords of Chimor: Textiles from Peru's North Coast. Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1984.

Wilkinson, Darryl. “The Influence of Amazonia on State Formation in the Ancient Andes.” Antiquity, volume 92, issue 365 (October 2018).