A Large Chimú Border from a Man's Mantle with Crested Moon Animal...

Description

A Large Chimú Border from a Man's Mantle with Crested Moon Animal
Peru, Late Intermediate Period - Late Horizon, c. 1100-1500 AD

This spectacular textile border section, preserved in remarkable condition, is woven of a cotton warp with a fine camelid-fiber weft using tapestry weave with discontinuous weft yarns. The technique-demanding separate interlaced wefts for each block of color-creates a mosaic-like surface of pure tones, consuming extravagant quantities of fiber and requiring immense labor and skill. The result is a fully reversible textile, here presenting a repeating totem of the Crested Moon Animal, one of the most enduring mythological figures of the ancient Andes.

The Crested Moon Animal has deep roots in Andean iconography, first seen among the Recuay and Moche, where it combined a feline head, serrated crest, claws, and tail, often perched on or within a crescent moon. In Chimú hands, the creature's form became more streamlined and abstract, though no less potent. A major representation appears on the walls of the sacred precinct at Huaca El Dragón, near Chan Chan, emphasizing its role in Chimú cosmology. On mantles such as this, the motif proclaimed both mythic resonance and elite identity, situating the wearer in continuity with ancestral power and cosmic order.

Rare in both scale and preservation, this border is a tour de force of Chimú textile artistry, combining precious materials, extraordinary weaving skill, and enduring mythological imagery. As both a masterpiece of Andean weaving and a powerful emblem of status and sacred continuity, it stands among the most desirable survivals of Chimú textile tradition.

Provenance:
Acquired by the current collection in 1991
Gail Martin Gallery, New York, NY

Dimensions of shadow box: 82 ½ x 11 ½ x 2 ½ inches

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