Panel

Description

Chimú artists commonly repeated abstract motifs in a regular pattern, as seen here in the arrangement of zoomorphic figures within three rows of squares bordered with motifs that suggest waves and stepped triangles. Some of the animal forms on the panel resemble splayed frogs; others resist identification. The staffs held by these creatures may connect them to the humanlike ones that frequently appear in Chimú textiles, such as this loincloth also in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Provenance

Eduard Gaffron (1861–1931), Lima, Peru, from 1892 to 1912, then Berlin, from 1912 [History of the Department report (Joanne Behrens, 1985) and correspondence in curatorial file]; by descent to his children Mercedes Gaffron, Berlin then Durham, SC, and Hans Gaffron (1902–1979), Berlin then Chicago [correspondence and documentation of the Gaffron Collection in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1955.

Panel

Chimú

1250-1470

Accession Number

85467

Medium

Cotton and camelid wool, slit tapestry weave with eccentric wefts

Dimensions

57.5 × 54.3 cm (22 5/8 × 21 3/8 in.)

Classification

weaving

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Kate S. Buckingham Endowment