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Source Description
The striking, large-scale figure shown on this tunic has an elaborate, monkey-like tail as well as head appendages that mark the creature as supernatural. This tunic, a relatively rare type, was made not on a loom but rather by working the yarns into loops with a needle. It is made entirely with camelid fiber, which can readily be dyed in a range of vivid colors. The fiber comes from one of the four camels (camelids) native to the Andes Mountains—the alpaca and llama, both domesticated, and the wild guanaco and vicuña. On the coast, it represents a prestige import.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
119675
label
Tunic
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
119675
contentType
object
title
Tunic
description
The striking, large-scale figure shown on this tunic has an elaborate, monkey-like tail as well as head appendages that mark the creature as supernatural. This tunic, a relatively rare type, was made not on a loom but rather by working the yarns into loops with a needle. It is made entirely with camelid fiber, which can readily be dyed in a range of vivid colors. The fiber comes from one of the four camels (camelids) native to the Andes Mountains—the alpaca and llama, both domesticated, and the wild guanaco and vicuña. On the coast, it represents a prestige import.
date
400–200 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60778475
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Average: 94 x 82.6 cm (37 x 32 1/2 in.)
cul
Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site?, Paracas people
accession
1940.514
Source extras
tec
looped camelid fiber
tombstone
Tunic, 400–200 BCE. Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site?, Paracas people. Looped camelid fiber; average: 94 x 82.6 cm (37 x 32 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1940.514
collection
T - Pre-Columbian
didYouKnow
The red dyes in this tunic likely come from madder root.
citations
citation
Milliken, William M. "Exhibition of the "Art of the Americas"." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 32, no. 9 (1945)
page_number
p. 4
citation
Society of the Four Arts (Palm Beach, Fla.), and Gordon F. Ekholm. Pre-Columbian Art, the Native Art of America Before the Conquest: Jan. 10-Feb. 1, 1953. Palm Beach: Society of the Four Arts, 1952.
page_number
Cat. No. 90
citation
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and Wendell Clark Bennett. <em>32 Masterworks of Andean Art from the Exhibition Ancient Arts of the Andes. </em>1955.
page_number
p. 63, fig. 71
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 344
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 297
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 297
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 401
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 8
citation
"New in the Galleries." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 57, no. 6 (November/December 2017): Back cover.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover
citation
"Permanent Collection Installations." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 64, no. 2 (June/July/August 2024): 14-15.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 15
creditline
The Norweb Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:10:39.640000
sourceId
119675
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Pre-Columbian
med
looped camelid fiber
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
af5014ba37fcd381