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Panel
Wari
Middle Horizon
A.D. 500–700
Object Place: Peru
Medium/Technique
Camelid fiber and cotton tapestry weave (predominately interlocking)
Dimensions
70.5 x 117 cm (27 3/4 x 46 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Charles Potter Kling Fund
Accession Number1996.50
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionPanel of tapestry weave made up of five contiguous panels. Four wide taps, woven of a piece with the main body, probably using a scaffolding system, extend from the bottom edge. Five standard-bearing figures with painted faces and bared teeth alternate with winged felines (?), each with a serpent on its head and a trophy head on its wing. Figures are in two registers, the top facing left, the bottom right. Two trophy heads appear on each tab. Cotton warp and camelid weft; interlocking tapestry except for diagonals; vertical direction of figures coincident with the direction of warp; loom cord present at top; edges overcast.
ProvenanceBy about 1970, private American collection [see note]; by about 1995/1996, sold by this collection to Arte Textil, San Francisco; 1996, sold by Arte Textil to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 27, 1996)
NOTE: According to the dealer at the time of acquisition, "the person who sold this textile ... informed me that the Wari panel has been in their private collection in the United States for well over twenty five (25) years."
NOTE: According to the dealer at the time of acquisition, "the person who sold this textile ... informed me that the Wari panel has been in their private collection in the United States for well over twenty five (25) years."