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Fish-Shaped Applique

1400–1532
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
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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.
Fish-Shaped Applique

Fish-Shaped Applique

1400–1532

Central Andes, Central Coast, Ychsma (Pachacamac) people

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