Tapestry Bag
Unknown Artist
7th century
Medium
Camelid hair
Dimensions
Overall: 4 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (11.43 x 12.07 cm) Other: 4 1/2 in. (11.43 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Woven
Culture
Nasca
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of George D. Pratt, 1932
Accession Number
32.32.21
Art Historical Context
This exquisite Tapestry Bag, crafted by an unknown Nasca artist in the 7th century, hails from the ancient Nasca culture of southern Peru coastal region. Flourishing from around 100 BCE to 800 CE, the Nasca are renowned for their monumental geoglyphs—the Nazca Lines—and masterful ceramics, but their textiles reveal equally sophisticated artistry. Dating to the culture's late phase, this pouch (just 4½ x 4¾ inches) exemplifies the Nasca enduring legacy in woven works, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Woven from camelid hair...