Fragment of a Garment

Chancay weavers are known for their gauzes—like this headcloth in the Art Institute’s collection (AIC 1984.121). But “gauze” does not simply mean a gossamer cloth; it can also refer to a specific woven structure in which the vertical warp threads are crossed. Here, the maker developed an innovative gauze weave by adding brightly colored, brocaded, horizontal wefts to the underlying brown gauze in order to create designs of interlocking seabirds with long beaks and skinny legs. The horizontal, tapestry-woven band at the bottom contains anthropomorphized waves, representing the shoreline where Chancay communities lived.