Mantle
100 BCE-200 CE
Medium
Wool (camelid), plain weave; embroidered in stem stitches; corners edged with weft-faced plain weave with extended ground weft fringe and embroidered in cross-knit loop stitches
Dimensions
238.1 × 106.7 cm (93 3/4 × 42 in.)
Classification
textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
33772
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This expansive mantle, designed to be wrapped around the shoulders, features over 50 figures in brightly colored embroidery, a form of embellishment composed of needle-worked stitches. With their heads bent to the side, each figure wears a headdress, ear ornaments, and a tunic with a decorated border, and carries a feline under one arm. The pronounced stripes on the animal’s legs identify it as the pampas cat, a predator known to protect crops. Scroll-like motifs that emerge from the figures’ mo...