Miniature Tunic

Wari

1 of 2

Object Label

This exquisite miniature tunic has been woven with the utmost care, with more than two hundred threads per inch. The minuteness of the weave suggests that it is made of vicuña fiber, the finest hair of all the South American camelids. Too small for even a baby, this tunic was likely a devotional object, perhaps placed in the burial of an important personage.

The repeating figure has a human body with a feline head and carries a staff terminating in an eagle or condor head, both symbols of power. Other Wari motifs include the vertical split eye, a teardrop line below the eye that doubles as an animal, and the N-shaped canines.

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Esta exquisita túnica miniatura ha sido tejida con sumo cuidado, con sobre doscientas hebras por pulgada. La menudez del tejido sugiere que fue hecho de fibras de vicuña, el pelo más delgado de todos los camélidos de América del Sur. Demasiado pequeña incluso para un bebé, esta túnica era probablemente un objeto de devoción, acaso ubicado en la sepultura de un personaje importante.

La figura repetida tiene cuerpo de humano con una cabeza felina y carga un báculo que termina en la cabeza de un águila o un cóndor, ambos símbolos de poder. Otros motivos Wari incluyen el ojo rasgado vertical, una línea de lágrima bajo el ojo que se dobla como un animal y los caninos en forma de N.

Caption

Wari. Miniature Tunic, 500–800. Cotton, camelid fiber, 8 11/16 x 12 1/2 in. (22.1 x 31.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 71.180. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 71.180_SL1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Culture

Wari

Title

Miniature Tunic

Date

500–800

Period

Middle Horizon Period

Geography

Place found: Peru

Medium

Cotton, camelid fiber

Classification

Textile

Dimensions

8 11/16 x 12 1/2 in. (22.1 x 31.8 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection

Accession Number

71.180

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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