peru, inca style
The vast Inca (Inka) empire flourished between 1438 and 1532, spreading
Tunic with checkerboard pattern and stepped yoke
along the western edge of South America to encompass present‑day Ecua‑ dor, Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile, and northwestern Argentina, its distant
1476–1534
parts linked by an elaborate system of roads. The standardization of design
Camelid fiber
and technical precision that distinguish Inca art can be seen, among other
34P × 31M in. (88.3 × 80 cm)
examples, in its tapestry‑woven textiles, or qompi. Woven by specialists,
The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of Carol Robbins, 1995.32.McD
qompi often have an unusually high thread count and are so carefully made that the cloth is reversible, qualities that set it apart from contemporary European tapestry. Of the qompi garments that have survived, the most impressive is the man’s knee‑length tunic, and of the four standardized tunic designs, the bold black‑and‑white checkerboard pattern with a stepped red yoke is especially dramatic. Sixteenth‑century Spanish chroni‑ clers described men in the Inca army as wearing tunics with a chessboard pattern, suggesting that this design had military associations.
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ancient and native american
3121-02 DMA handbook Ancient [RCP 10-7].indd 32
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