Woman's Mantle (lliclla)

Unknown

17th–18th century · Camelid hair · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Indigenous women in the Andes have continued to wear their traditional mantles, fastened by silver shawl pins, even in modern times. Although colonial-era weavers preserved the art of Inkan tapestry technique, they incorporated many European decorative motifs into their designs. The wearing of copious quantities of lace imported from Spain was one of the features most frequently noted in contemporary colonial descriptions of well-to-do Peruvians' attire; the passion for this deluxe sartorial embellishment was echoed in the native tapestry weavers' ornamental vocabulary, as seen in the lace-patterned bands that define the horizontal registers of this shawl.

Artist

Unknown

Date

17th–18th century

Medium

Camelid hair

Culture

Peruvian

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

Bequest of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1993