Pre-Columbian, Southern Peru, Nazca, ca. 700 to 800 CE. A fantastic and well-preserved ancient textile woven from a simple cotton or camelid wool backing, and then covered with tufts of brightly dyed hair, knotted together along a length of string then sewn to the fabric panel in slightly overlapping rows to hide the threads. Amazing skill and planning went into creating this textile, and it may have been intended to resemble fabrics that use a similar technique but with bird feathers - hair was probably a easier material to obtain and can create a similar pile and texture. Size: 21.5" L x 6.5" W (54.6 cm x 16.5 cm)

Provenance: private southern California, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#186173

Fragment of a larger textile. Unraveling to cut edges of woven textile the hairs are mounted on, and tear to upper edge. Shedding and losses to some hairs, but overall good preservation and bright colors. Uppermost row of hairs situated on the tear in the cloth have a row of blue hair that is loose, but included with the textile.