Panel
1250-1470
Medium
Cotton and camelid wool, slit tapestry weave with eccentric wefts
Dimensions
57.5 × 54.3 cm (22 5/8 × 21 3/8 in.)
Classification
weaving
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
85467
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Chimú artists commonly repeated abstract motifs in a regular pattern, as seen here in the arrangement of zoomorphic figures within three rows of squares bordered with motifs that suggest waves and stepped triangles. Some of the animal forms on the panel resemble splayed frogs; others resist identification. The staffs held by these creatures may connect them to the humanlike ones that frequently appear in Chimú textiles, such as this loincloth also in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicag...
About the Artist
Chimú
The Chimú, a preeminent pre-Columbian culture of Peru's northern coast, flourished from approximately 900 to 1470 CE as the Kingdom of Chimor, emerging in the wake of the Moche civilization's decline and incorporating influences from the Sican, Wari, and Cajamarca cultures. Centered in the vast adobe metropolis of Chan Chan—the largest city in the Americas before the Inca, housing up to 60,000 peo...