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Tunic with Double-headed Serpents
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Gauze weave was used to pattern this tunic with interlocking, double-headed serpents that may have had mythical or supernatural significance. By manipulating the density of the fabric to create the design, the weaver may have sidestepped a limitation of cotton, which did not readily take dyes.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTunic with Double-headed Serpents, 400–200 BCE. Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site?, Paracas people (700 BCE-1 CE). Cotton; gauze; folded: 68.3 x 65.4 cm (26 7/8 x 25 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 2005.17
