Contemporary Peruvian textile artists are predominantly of mixed Andean and Spanish ancestry, and they illustrate a mastery of their craft that draws strongly upon this Andean-Mestizo heritage. Fine textiles served as symbols of wealth and socioeconomic status among Pre-Columbian Andean cultures because of the fine fabrics, their elaborate weaving techniques, and their … [Read more...] about 20th-century Andean-Mestizo Textile with Chimú or Moche Motifs: Researched and Conserved by Alyssa Cartier
These two unusual wooden figures are from Colombia, and they are identifiable because of their traditional clothing to be depictions of people of the Kamentsá cultures from the Putumayo region of southern Colombia. The male figure wears a striped poncho over a dark undergarment, and he wears a necklace composed of multiple strands of beads. The female figure … [Read more...] about Native Dolls and Doll-like Figures of the Americas by Vanessa Lockhart and Hannah DipotoNative Dolls and Doll-like Figures of the Americas by Vanessa Lockhart and Hannah Dipoto
This vessel is a faithful reproduction of a Moche culture vessel with a relief effigy face on the neck and a fine-line painting on the body. The simplified relief of the face indicates that a mold was made of the original vessel, and that this mold was then used by the Moche to mass-produce the vessel for sale throughout the Andean region. These mass-produced … [Read more...] about A Moche Ceramic Vessel by Zjane Johnson
The indigenous peoples of the Andean region of South America are master textile makers, with an ancient history of creating textiles that spans millennia. The Andeans developed an ingeniously simple but highly flexible, portable type of loom known as the backstrap loom, which allowed weavers to bring their work with them and to practice their techniques virtually … [Read more...] about 20th-century Andean Textiles: Researched by Alisha Heitz