Textile Fragment

c. 50–650 CE

Peru, Moche, north coast

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Medium

cotton and camelid fiber

Measurements

Overall: 43.2 x 27.6 cm (17 x 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 2007.2.5

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

This fragment is a rare survivor of floods that destroyed much of the Moche textile record.

Description

This fragment, one of several in the collection, is a rare survivor of catastrophic rains that destroyed much of the Moche textile legacy and may have helped to bring about the decline of Moche culture. It depicts a serpent and a snail beneath a hovering raptorial bird—perhaps a snail kite, a type of hawk named after its favored food. The size of the motifs implies that the original textile was large; a mantle (a shawl-like garment) or a hanging are among the possibilities.