Nasca. <em>Mantle ("The Paracas Textile")</em>, 100–300 C.E. Cotton, camelid fiber, support: 67 1/4 × 33 1/4 in. (170.8 × 84.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, John Thomas Underwood Memorial Fund, 38.121 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 38.121_color_corrected_SL1.jpg)

Nasca. Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100–300 C.E. Cotton, camelid fiber, support: 67 1/4 × 33 1/4 in. (170.8 × 84.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, John Thomas Underwood Memorial Fund, 38.121 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 38.121_color_corrected_SL1.jpg)

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What was this used for?

A mantle is a simple garment that the wearer might wrap around their shoulders. This mantle was found in a burial so it may have been designed specifically for the dead or it may have been worn by the living before being buried. The particularly elaborate border and unusually small size also suggests that it was an elite object.

How was this made?

The central panel of this textile was created using a technique called warp-wrapping. First, a warp of parallel undyed threads was laid out. The colors and shapes that you see were created by wrapping dyed threads around the undyed warp threads. Finally, a weft of undyed threads was woven into the warp to create the textile.

The border features a different technique, known as crossed loping, that is unique to Nasca artists. This is an ancient type of knitting in which a single needle is used to stitch each new loop of yarn into an existing loop of the design.

How has this textile survived for so long?

Like many very old yet well-preserved objects, this mantle came from a burial. In Nasca burial practices, the deceased was wrapped in many layers of textiles, both plain and elaborately decorated like the mantle here. The whole bundle was then buried underground. The dark, controlled environment of a burial helps preserve organic materials—like textiles and the pigments you see here—by limiting exposure to light and moisture . In addition, the South Coast of Peru, where this textile originates, is one of the driest regions of the world, which contributed to the preservation of textiles.

What kinds of dyes were used to get these colors?

The pigments in this object have not been tested, but we know that ancient Andean artists typically used organic pigments to color textiles. Examples include madder root and cochineal for red, and indigo for dark blue.

Did the Nasca people interact with the Inca people?

These two cultures do both come from Peru, but they existed at different times. According to the archaeological record, the Nasca culture dates from about 100-600 CE, while the Inca Empire dates from 1400-1532.

What is the significance of the pattern in the middle?

The face that you see repeated in the center of this textile represents what scholars refer to as the Oculate Being. Similar images—of a face with large eyes, an elongated nose, smiling mouth, and a protruding tongue—are common in the art of ancient Peru. Scholars aren’t sure what the Nasca people called this being, but they hypothesize that it represents an agricultural or fertility god.

What is camelid fiber?

Camelid fiber is wool made from the hair of animals in the camelid family, in the Andes, these would be llamas, alpacas, or vicuñas.

Why does the border appear better preserved than the middle?

The camelid fibers used in the border are stronger, more resilient, and hold dyes better than the cotton fibers used in the center. It's also possible that the center textile predates the border.

How did this end up in the museum?

The Brooklyn Museum purchased this object from a Peruvian collector, Raphael Larco Herrera, in Trujillo, Peru in 1938.

Is this a unique piece or are there others like it?

There are other Nasca textiles in the Brooklyn Museum and around the world, but this may be the only example of a woven body with a knitted border that survives. The knitted border is exceptional in its level of detail and preservation.

Mantle ("The Paracas Textile")

Arts of the Americas

About this Brooklyn Icon
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.

This extraordinarily complex mantle, or cloak, is one of the most renowned Andean textiles. Its iconic status derives from the 90 three-dimensional, needle-knit figures around the border. These vibrant figures, made of dyed camelid (possibly alpaca) fibers, represent human and supernatural beings surrounded by plants and animals. The lighter central cloth is made of cotton woven on a loom. Its repeating pattern of 32 colorful, smiling faces depicts a deity known as the Oculate Being, believed to be associated with agricultural fertility.

This textile is smaller than contemporaneous Nasca mantles, suggesting that it was a special ceremonial garment. The complex border iconography has been interpreted as a microcosm of life on Peru’s South Coast 2,000 years ago. Native flora and fauna, as well as cultivated plants, appear among the figures, including a huarango tree growing out of a pampas cat, a llama carrying plants, a frog, and a human figure holding a tuberous plant. Some of the costumed figures may represent humans impersonating deities and acting as intermediaries between the real and supernatural worlds. Severed human heads are shown as germinating seeds, connecting the practice of ritual sacrifice with fertility. Gold ornaments and garments worn by the human figures faithfully represent those found archaeologically.

CULTURE Nasca

MEDIUM Cotton, camelid fiber

Place Found: Cabeza Larga, South Coast, Paracas, Peru

DATES 100–300 C.E.

PERIOD Early Intermediate Period

DIMENSIONS support: 67 1/4 × 33 1/4 in. (170.8 × 84.5 cm) 24 5/8 × 58 11/16 in. (62.5 × 149 cm) STORAGE (Tycore Housing for use at 3MZQ14-12-20. ): 3 × 40 × 73 in. (7.6 × 101.6 × 185.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 38.121

CREDIT LINE John Thomas Underwood Memorial Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Mantle with ninety individual, colorful figures decorating the border. The interior cloth is simple, fragmented, and possibly of an earlier date. Cross-loop stitch flowers join the border to the central cloth. Although the mantle was found at the Paracas Necropolis and has been known as "The Paracas Textile" since it was acquired by the Brooklyn Museum in 1938, the cross-knit looping of the border figures is a typical Nasca 2 technique. The mantle is therefore now considered to be the work of Nasca artists, who were contemporaneous with the Paracas people. Some scholars also believe that the central cloth dates from an earlier period and may have come from the Ica Valley where objects with similar "Oculate Being" imagery have been found. The textile is about two thousand years old. That it survived over time is due to the dry desert climate of the South Coast of Peru where it was discovered. In spite of its fragile condition, it is one of the most important textiles in the world because of its complexity and mysterious imagery. Its fragile nature demands low levels of light, an environment free from vibrations, and a case to protect it from dust and moisture. Excerpted information from a brochure published by the Brooklyn Museum in 1991: Ninety separate figures stand around the border as if in a formal procession. About thirty figures are unique; others fall into groups that share similar costumes, coloring, body postures, and positions. No single figure stands out clearly from the rest, and no overall sequence has yet been deciphered. The back of the border is a mirror image of the front, except for three figures that have a front and a back. All of the figures are represented from multiple viewpoints and each individual body part is treated separately in a standardized way: faces are always seen full-face, feet in profile, and so on. The designs in both the center and border of the textile are organized around the lines of an imaginary cross passing through the center. It divides the faces in the central cloth into two groups, and the border figures into four, each of which point their feet in a different direction. Some figures seem to be mythological and have unnatural characteristics such as appendages sometimes called "streamers" or "signifiers," which usually extend from mouths or clothing. Streamers do not correspond to a known object and may represent some abstract force of energy. Some human figures wear very elaborate costumes. As in many societies, costumed priests may have acted as interpreters and mediators between the natural and supernatural worlds. The costumed figures may also represent an intermediate stage in the transformation from real living person to spirit. Since Paracas and Nasca textiles were used as funeral wrappings, it would be appropriate for their designs to reflect such a transformation. Three of the figures are thought to be women because of the longer dress-type clothing; the head is bent backwards and the arms are raised. In keeping with the agricultural theme of the border, two types of plants sprout from these three female figures. Other border figures hold or display disembodied heads and small doll-like objects that scholars call "trophy heads" and "effigy figures." These seem to be related to ritual sacrifices connected with a religious cult that spread through the South Coast at this time. Bodiless heads and sacrificial victims are found in burials, and images of sacrifice occur throughout Paracas and Nasca art. Trophy heads on the border often appear to germinate like seeds, sprouting plants and animals, suggesting interconnected cycles of birth and death. About one-third of the border figures have some type of feline motif. The larger "Pampas cat" portrayed is a small wild cat called Felis colocolo, which is still found in the South Coast area. The regalia portrayed correspond to rich, beautifully crafted items known from Paracas mummy bundles. Forehead ornaments, hair bangles, and mouth masks such as those shown were made from thin sheets of gold. Llamas were the only beasts of burden used in the Andes in pre-Columbian times. They carried products between the vastly different ecological zones at different altitudes. The llamas portrayed (although one is much deteriorated) each carry a leafy branch with fruit; their backs are decorated with beans, flowers, a chili pepper, and other vegetables. Llamas continue to have both practical and symbolic importance in the Andes. Three border figures wear what appears to be a fox skin. These skins have been found in many mummy bundles. In Inca times (1470-1532) fox skins were a special badge worn by men who had specific community duties related to agriculture. Since these figures all wear a headdress decorated with a leafy branch, they may have held a similar office. There are distinctions between figures that might indicate the presence of more than one artist. Two of the fox-skin wearers are almost identical: but a third is slightly larger and different in its detailing. One of the only three figures on the border with a front and a back appears in a costume with a bird wing worn over one shoulder. One of the Paracas mummy bundles included just such a costume -- a feathered, wing-like cape. The central figure in a trio found at one end of the textile has a long streamer extending from his mouth and ending in a cat; another mouth streamer has been lost. The borders on his ankle-length garment and all of his streamers have intricate repeating motifs that are similar to the embroidered designs found on numerous Paracas Necropolis textiles. Many of the tongue streamers on the border are decorated with the same colors, patterns, or edgings as those that appear on garments. This may suggest some correspondence between textiles and language. Textiles still reflect a medium of communication in the Andes. Family and village designs on textiles are representative of social identity and help maintain inherited information, connecting past, present, and future generations. Agriculture was well established on the South Coast by Paracas and Nasca times and a wide variety of plants are represented in the border design, including root vegetables, fruits, beans, and yucca and flowering species. Some scholars feel this textile is a type of calendar, especially because so many different types of flora and fauna are represented, but none have definitively been able to decode the imagery. Comments by Isabel Iriarte, Curator of Collections, Archaeological Textiles, Museo Ethografico "Juan B. Ambrosetti," University of Buenos Aires, March, 2004: The figure of a "woman" appears three times, figure number 88 on the short end, number 73, and also as number 67. Each character by her side is different. She is carrying what seems to be, according to the limpness of the body, a dead person, however, the figure holds a tumi. This is thought to be a woman because of the longer dress-type of clothing she is wearing; her head is bent backwards and her arms are raised. From "Textiles of ancient Peru and their techniques" by Raoul d'Harcourt, Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 1962 [1934]: In keeping with the agricultural theme of the border, two types of plants sprout from the figure. On figure 88 one can see the tuber, and on each of the three figures it is possible to discern the plant extending down the side of the figure, possibly a camote or sweet potato plant.

EXHIBITIONS

Living Legacies: The Arts of the Americas

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Nasca. Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100–300 C.E. Cotton, camelid fiber, support: 67 1/4 × 33 1/4 in. (170.8 × 84.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, John Thomas Underwood Memorial Fund, 38.121 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 38.121_color_corrected_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 38.121_color_corrected_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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