Tunic

600–850 CE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The design of this tunic is based on the repetition of an abstract face in profile and a geometric motif known as a stepped fret. To create the whole pattern, the two motifs are inverted and reversed across the larger network of horizontal and vertical white lines, following the complex rules of planar geometry. The motifs are wider in the central vertical columns and compressed at the garment’s sides. Tunics were worn by men, over their loincloths, and fine, tapestry-weave examples such as this one were primary markers of identity and status.



El diseño de esta túnica está basado en la repetición de la cara abstracta de un perfil y de un motivo geométrico denominado calado escalonado. Para crear el patrón, los dos motivos fueron invertidos y revertidos a través de las redes más amplias de líneas blancas horizontales y verticales, siguiendo de esta manera las complejas normas de la geometría plana. Los motivos son más anchos en la columna vertical del centro y se vuelven más finos a los lados de la prenda. Los hombres eran quienes vestían las túnicas por encima de sus taparrabos. La fina tapicería tejida como esta era uno de los principales indicadores de identidad y estatus.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tunic
  • Date: 600–850 CE
  • Geography: Peru
  • Culture: Wari
  • Medium: Wool, cotton
  • Dimensions: H. 43 1/4 × W. 46 1/2 in. (109.9 × 118.1 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Woven
  • Credit Line: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Mary B. Jackson Fund and Edgar S. Lownes Fund (40.007)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing