File:Colonial Peru textile.jpg

Table cover or wall hanging, Peru, south highlands, last quarter of the 17th century.

In the Colonial period, the Americas were a crossroads of the international trade network of the Spanish Empire. Ships from the Philippines brought Asian goods, including Chinese silks, to the Americas for re-export back to Spain. These Chinese textiles were eagerly received in Peru by ruling Spanish elites, as were magnificent tapestry textiles produced by indigenous weavers of the pre-Hispanic Inca Empire.

This exquisite hanging was woven by indigenous Andean weavers, probably for a Spanish client, incorporating then-fashionable Chinese imagery. The central image depicts the "Pelican in her Piety", a Christian symbol of Christ's sacrifice, popular with Spanish missionaries. The surrounding motifs include European lions and unicorns among the Chinese spotted deer, birds, mythological beasts and peony blossoms. The weaving techniques and brilliant red background, dyed with cochineal insects, are typically Andean.

Cotton, camelid hair, silk

Tapestry weave with single interlocked and dovetailed joins, lazy lines. 175 cm x 163 cm

The Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.) 91.504 -- Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1951