90 The human face and its multiple expressions have exerted an endlessly compelling fascination throughout the history of world art. Though relatively little known compared to other traditions, few civilizations have ever rivaled pre-Columbian Peru in terms of the spectacularly eclectic and aesthetically exciting spectrum of visages portrayed in their woven, embroidered, painted, lacework/gauze, and feather- or metal-appliqué textiles. Over the course of indigenous Peruvian culture, the region’s remarkable textile artists rendered a vast spectrum of faces, which, in addition to being clearly human (or divine), were also frequently endowed with composite zoomorphic (animal) and/or phytomorphic (plant) characteristics, leading to the denomination of the “human-type” face for these representations. Forms varied considerably from culture to culture and by subject matter, but the apotheosis of such faces and their composite figures unquestionably occurs in textile finds dating from the millennium concluding with approximately 200 CE and found in the Paracas Cavernas and Paracas Necropolis on the Cerro Colorado in what is today Peru’s Pisco province (fig. 1). The purpose of this brief survey is to lay out three broad considerations that must define discussion of these remarkable artworks. Part A focuses on several cardinal factors that should be borne in mind when contemplating these ancient visages. Part B discusses various styles of artistic representations of the human-type face in Peruvian weaving, from the quasi-realist to the hallucinatingly surrealist, and from complex design to that of the utmost simplicity. Finally, part C briefly summarizes the various types of overall composition in which such visages appear. A: CONSIDERATIONS The first point of significance is the notable difference in terms of concepts of realism in ancient Peruvian art, particularly the apparent gap between “anatomically realist” ceramics and “intellectually realist” textiles. Fig. 2 shows a Moche portrait vessel from approximately AD 500, whose facial expression, linear structure, three-dimensional perspective, and representational volume, equilibrium, and proportions are as “anatomically realist” as Human-Type Visages in Peruvian Pre-Columbian Textile Art By James W. Reid FEATURE
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