Skip to main content
Public Domain

Chimú

Tapestry with Feather Border Design

Chimú, 900

Scroll

Chimú

Tapestry with Feather Border Design

Chimú, 900

Physical Qualities Cotton and camelid fiber, natural dyes, 103 9/16 × 29 1/4 in. (263 × 74.3 cm.)
Credit Line Women's Committee Fund
Object Number 1968.5
Likely owned by a high-status individual, this vibrant textile bears swirl designs reminiscent of patterns seen on architecture in the Chimú capital city Chan Chan. Ancient Andean cultures regarded cloth as extraordinarily valuable and prestigious. Textiles were often exchanged as gifts and accompanied elite individuals to the afterlife in elaborate burials. Here, a feather motif adorns the top of the tapestry. Colorful and rare feathers of exotic birds from distant lands decorated clothing, ornaments, and headgear of leaders, like the crown pictured below that is covered in blue feathers.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, by purchase, 1968 - Present;
Ex. Paul Clifford

Inscribed: Original BMA tag reads "Coastal Tiahuanaco"

Culture

Chimú

2000–2000

Meet Chimú

Explore the Collection Further

Coptic
Roundel (Orbiculus) with Fret Designs and Scalloped Border
301–500
Ludwig Richter
Border Design
1800–1899
Shoowa and Unidentified
Prestige Cloth with Interlock Design
1899–1939