Textile Design with Abstract Figures Inspired on Patterns of the Inca Cultures

Vertical panel with a textile design that is part of a group of 266 textile designs by the American artist Robert Bryer, possibly made for United Designing Co., since most of the designs carry a stamp of the "United Designing Co. / WOrth 4 - 8975". Some of them also contain a stamp in the verso of the "Original Designing Company, Inc."

The collection contains a great variety of designs, from the more traditional floral and stripe patterns, to thematic designs based on various travel destinations, with palm trees and other holiday attributes. Especially interesting among these are patterns inspired by textiles and paintings of Native American tribes, including the Inca, Navajo, Aztec and Maya. The patterns are composed of semi-abstract figures distributed across the design in a regular or, in some cases, a more casual fashion. The spontaneity of designs and the use of floral and animal motifs suggest they were created for printed textiles in the forties.

This textile design is named "Inca" and is made up of a pattern of blue and white cubes, all with an abstracted eye in their center. They are surrounded by symbols placed on the corners of a grid system, which resemble an abstract figure on two legs, alternately executed in yellow, white and blue or red. The red figures are orientated to the left and right whereas the multi-colored figures are presented upright. The tribal-inspired motifs in the design correspond to the rural revival of the American 'decorator' style that permeated textile designs starting in the second half of the 1930s and throughout the 1940s, many times inspired on indigenous and Native American design motifs.