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Band with Trophy Heads
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This band, remarkable for its intense color and spider-web sheerness, was created using an unusual technique known as discontinuous warp and weft. That is, none of the vertical or horizontal yarns are continuous from one side of the band to the other. Rather, they travel back and forth within their own color areas, linking at the edges with yarns in adjacent areas. This is a difficult feat when weaving on a loom and the creator likely used another approach, such as darning with a needle over a ground cloth that was then removed. The image repeated in each of the band’s rectangles is a head supported on two little feet.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBand with Trophy Heads, 100 BCE–700 CE. Peru, South Coast, Nasca. Interlocking warp and weft, single interlock: wool; overall: 180.7 x 21.6 cm (71 1/8 x 8 1/2 in.); mounted: 193 x 30.5 cm (76 x 12 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John Wise, 1953.475