Tunic, between 800 and 1000

  • Huari, Precolumbian

Cotton and wool

  • Overall: 83 × 39 inches (210.8 × 99.1 cm)

Founders Society Purchase with funds from Lee and Tina Hills

1986.25

Elaborate costumes woven in an intricate slit tapestry technique were the formal dress of the nobility of the ancient Huari empire, worn at court and placed on the body for burial. The complex patterns on this tunic may look totally abstract, but they are based on stylized eyes and mouths full of fangs symbolizing powerful feline deities.

1986-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Bulletin of the DIA 62, no. 3 (1986): 15.

Huari, Precolumbian, Tunic, between 800 and 1000, cotton and wool. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Lee and Tina Hills, 1986.25.