Feathered Tunic
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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 tunic (possibly a tabard) is composed of two pieces of cloth sewn together at the top. Large quantities of Blue-and-Yellow (Ara ararauna) and Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) feathers were required to cover both surfaces. On the front, surrounding the neckslit, the tunic features a U-shaped yellow yoke on a background of blue feathers. On the back, the blue background continues, now with four thin orange bands beneath which stepped triangles seem to be dangling. Like their predecessors, the Wari (600-1000 CE), Chimú feather artists experimented with complex shapes, intentionally cutting feathers to achieve intricate designs with crisp lines.
Carol Rodríguez, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie Scholar in Residence, 2025
References
King, Heidi. "Prachtvolle Federarbeiten: Eine wenig bekannte Kunstform aus Alt Peru." A4: Magazin fur Aussereuropaische Kunst und Kultur -- Afrika, Australien, Asien, Amerikas no. 7 (February 2008), pp. 52–53.
King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pp. 134–135.
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.
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 túnica (posiblemente un tabardo) se compone de dos piezas de tela cosidas en la parte superior. Grandes cantidades de plumas del guacamayo azul y amarillo (Ara ararauna) y del guacamayo scarlata (Ara macao) fueron necesarias para cubrir ambas superficies. En la parte de adelante, rodeando el cuello, la túnica presenta un canesú amarillo en forma de U sobre un fondo de plumas azules. En la parte de atrás, el fondo azul continúa, ahora con cuatro finas bandas naranjas bajo las que parecen colgar triángulos escalonados. Al igual que sus predecesores, los wari (600-1000 d.C.), los artistas chimú experimentaron con formas complejas, cortando intencionalmente las plumas para lograr intrincados diseños de líneas definidas.
Carol Rodríguez, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie Scholar in Residence, 2025
Referencias
King, Heidi. "Prachtvolle Federarbeiten: Eine wenig bekannte Kunstform aus Alt Peru." A4: Magazin fur Aussereuropaische Kunst und Kultur -- Afrika, Australien, Asien, Amerikas no. 7 (February 2008), pp. 52–53.
King, Heidi. Peruvian Featherworks: Art of the Precolumbian Era. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pp. 134–135.
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.
Wilkinson, Darryl. “The Influence of Amazonia on State Formation in the Ancient Andes.” Antiquity, volume 92, issue 365 (October 2018).
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