Framed Large Antique Nazca Textile Panel with Geometrical Design

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A large woven textile panel from Nazca culture on the south coast of nowadays Peru circa 600 to 800AD. The … Read more A large woven textile panel from Nazca culture on the south coast of nowadays Peru circa 600 to 800AD. The panel with short fringes on the end used to be half of a sleeveless tunic (similar to poncho) in which two similar pieces were joined together. Professionally mounted and conversed on a linen-backed wood frame and presented in an acrylic shadow box. The textile was finely woven from a camelid fiber dyed with natural pigments. The work strikes the viewer immediately with its unexpected modernity. The tri-colored geometrical blocks created a zigzagged step design that is visually minimal but bold at the same time. Its repetition evokes a lyrical visual rhythm that is unparallel in the ancient textile art and could easily mistake it as an abstract art from the 20th century. The zigzag step design was one of the unusual abstract motifs used by the pre-Columbian weavers from Nazca, who created some of the most mysterious and soul-stirring work with a minimalism aesthetic that was rarely seen in the ancient world. Considering that the artists were completely isolated without the influences of other cultures, their intrinsic creativity and artistic vision are even more impressive.
Reference: James W. Reid, The Lee M. Elman Collection of Peruvian Pre-Columbian Textiles, 2007, Editorial Ausonia, Lima, page 36.
"Textile Masterpieces of Ancient Peru" by James W. Reid, illustration 67 on plate 44.
'Textiles of Ancient Peru. Tejidos Del Peru Antiguo" page 68 See less