ANCIENT PERUVIAN TEXTILES
97
in the 1920s. Although the mantle and poncho
share much of the same imagery, they were likely
not found with the same individual. Paracas
mummy bundles contained numerous elaborate
textiles, with a wide range of styles, makers, and
motifs.1 On the large mantle, among the nested
and interlocking angular outlines of felines,
some of the cats express duality as double-headed
beings (fig. 4b). The extended tails of some
of the felines bend and undulate, melding with
the body of another feline of different scale and
orientation.
The joining of binaries into a single entity is
exemplified by a large feather panel purchased
from dealer Walram V. von Schoeler in 1949
(fig. 2). Constructed of overlapping rows of
thousands of feathers attached to a plain cotton
backing, the juxtaposed vibrant colors evoke an
abstract harmony. The opposition of color was
emphasized by technique; the yellow feathers
were attached by a different type of knot and
used a different fiber than the blue feathers.2
Furthermore, the source of the feathers, the blueand
yellow macaw, embodies the conjunction of
opposites through its coloration. With a blue
dorsal side and yellow ventral side, this tropical
bird embodies the division of top and bottom,
particularly when in flight. This panel was one
among dozens of identical size and similar pattern
found in southern Peru in 1943, rolled up
when the museum was expanding its holdings.
In 1956, the museum purchased a Paracas mantle
and poncho that were sold by John Wise as
an ensemble with two other pieces sharing similar
iconography (figs. 4 and 5). Because none of
the textiles in this group show signs of frequent
wear, it is likely that they were made exclusively
for the dead. The textiles feature blocky outlines
of cats embroidered on a plain black ground in
narrow sections, in the so-called Linear Style that
is associated with textiles used to wrap mummies
from the Wari Kayan Necropolis site on
the Paracas Peninsula, which was first excavated
and sealed in large ceramic jars.3 Feather panels
from this discovery are in numerous collections,
but the Saint Louis Art Museum’s 1949 acquisition
is considerably earlier than most.
A spectacular tunic attributed to the Ica culture
of the south coast from AD 1000–1450 was
also purchased from Schoeler in 1949 (fig. 3).
This tunic is composed of four separately woven
sections that almost perfectly align their zigzag
rows of interlocking birds and geometric shapes.
Embroidered edging adorns the neck and armholes
of the tunic, which highlights the intricacies
of this male garment.
The fundamental opposites of life and death
are one of the themes of the exhibition. Ancestor
veneration played an important role in ancient
Peruvian culture and often manifested as an ad-
FIG. 5 (left):
Poncho.
Paracas, Peru.
200 BC–AD 100.
Camelid fiber, including fringe.
78.7 x 61 cm.
Saint Louis Art Museum, museum
purchase, Friends Fund, and
funds provided by the Maymar
Corporation, inv. 24:1956.
FIG. 6 (below):
Textile fragment.
Chimú, Peru.
AD 1100–1400.
Camelid fiber, cotton. 70 x 32.1 cm.
Saint Louis Art Museum, exchange
with Textile Museum, Washington,
DC, inv. 43:1967.