Sleeveless Tunic

Unknown

12th–15th century · Cotton, camelid hair · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Chimú men wore broad tunics, sometimes with a fringe at the bottom, often over elaborate loincloths. This example, made of bright ochre yarns loosely brocaded over a plain cotton ground, was woven in two pieces and joined by a seam in the middle, leaving open a slit for the neck. It appears the weaver ran out of one shade of ochre and completed the garment using yarn from a different dye lot (note the color change on the upper part of the proper right side [the viewer’s left]).

Artist

Unknown

Date

12th–15th century

Medium

Cotton, camelid hair

Culture

Chimú

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979