The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Fish-Shaped Applique

1400–1532

Central Andes, Central Coast, Ychsma (Pachacamac) people

Cotton and camelid fiber, tapestry weave with areas of eccentric weft floats

Overall: 26 x 56.5 cm (10 1/4 x 22 1/4 in.); Mounted: 32.4 x 62.9 cm (12 3/4 x 24 3/4 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1933.392

Location

not on view

Description

This fish-shaped textile, a complete weaving with 33 finished edges, was stitched with others like it to a mantle, a shawl-like garment that was a staple of ancient Andean wardrobe. The partial “x-ray view,” which emphasizes the bony white teeth and spine, is unique to the style of the Ychsma (yeach-mah), who lived on Peru’s central coast. Marine imagery may relate to both subsistence and religious concerns—at least some coastal people of the period conceived of the sea as a deity.

Citations
Wadsworth Atheneum, Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, and Charles Crehore Cunningham. 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving: A Loan Exhibition : Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Dec. 7, 1951 to Jan. 27, 1952 ; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Feb. 27, 1952 to Mar. 25, 1952. Hartford, Conn: Wardsworth Atheneum], 1951. Cat. No. 168, p. 58
Exhibition history

2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (December 7, 1951- January 2, 1952); Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (February 27-March 25, 1952).

Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).

Gallery 107 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 29, 2004-April 12, 2005).

Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).

Fiberworks: Tradition and Technique. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 5-November 11, 1977).

Andean Gallery 107 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29, 2004-April 12, 2005).

Gallery 232- Andean Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 28, 2018-August 26, 2019).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1933.392