Tunic with Profile Animal and Human Heads

c. 700–1100

Peru, South Coast, Wari Culture, Middle Horizon, 8th-12th Century

Medium

tapestry weave: wool

Measurements

Average: 97.8 x 99.1 cm (38 1/2 x 39 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of John Wise 1949.12

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Location

Not on view

Description

Wari tunics are made of two long panels folded at the shoulder line and stitched together at center and side seams, with openings left for the head and arms. The looms on which the panels were woven measured about 80 x 20 inches, with the warps spanning the short dimension. Thus, the warps are horizontal rather than vertical in the garment as it was worn. This orientation is unusual and seems to have influenced the construction of later Inca tunics. In this example, the imagery comprises two profile heads that alternate, one a human and the other an animal that may represent a deer or a bat. Such tunics were luxury goods worn only by privileged individuals.