The term “patchwork” does not do justice to the intricacy of the creative process. To my knowledge, the process used here is unique in world fiber history…A technical discovery of this kind underscores how important it was to the ancient Andeans not to cut fabric, how much labor was expended to obtain a particular visual effect, and how central innovation was to the aesthetic system.”
Objects in Brief is a randomized showcase of the MFA, Boston’s encyclopedic Textile and Fashion Arts collections. A featured object is indicative of the author’s curiosity and chosen so she may learn about its material and structural properties, function, history, and greater story. These “quick studies” have led to more in-depth explorations posted in A Closer Look.
Catherine Tutter is an intermedia artist working at the cross currents of fiber art and community engagement. She was on staff at the David and Roberta Logie Department of Textile and Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 2016-2020, and continues to share her love for its encyclopedic collection by posting to this blog.
View all posts by Catherine Tutter
2 thoughts on “Mantle (Peruvian, Wari, A.D. 700-900)”
How can you tell that the pieces were disassembled, dyed, and then reassembled? Is it the discontinuous weft & warp? It seems like an unnecessarily laborious technique. Why did they avoid cutting? I seems to me that more thread is wasted by weaving individual pieces than would have been if pieces were cut from whole cloth. I ask because sometimes researchers are so intent on finding a new discover that they can’t see the forest for the trees. Also, art historians can’t be knowledgeable in every craft. Sometimes they are not expert in a particular technique. Has this technique been tested with modern day weavers? For the sake of science, you do have to be able to duplicate it.
Thanks for your comment on my post featuring the MFA’s tie-dyed Wari mantle. You hit the mark with questions concerning the choice of technically difficult and labor-intensive techniques used to create this masterwork, and whether this method has been replicated by contemporary weavers. We know how this tunic was fabricated through close readings of its physical structure by textile experts (textile conservators among them) and their analyses of the sequential steps that went towards the completion of the overall textile, including the weaving, dying and reassembling of the component parts to create its visually stunning patterning. Regarding the issue of labor, we learn by studying ancient Andean textiles that this very investment in the preparation of materials and expenditure of effort, not to mention the unparalled diversity and virtuosity of weaving techniques, how foundational textiles were as the preeminent form of cultural and aesthetic expression. The primacy of textiles in Andean culture is at the heart of the technical and innovative brilliance of its weave structures, unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. To cut cloth after such an expenditure of effort would likely have been an unthinkable concept, and would run counter to this notion of value placed on textile as structure. Modern day fiber artists have long been inspired and influenced by Andean weaving, such as Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, Ed Rossbach, and others who sought to push the medium of fiber to new dimensions. Just a few years ago, a workshop was held as part of the Textile Society of America’s 2016 conference in the technique of discontinuous warp and weft. Thank you for your great questions!
How can you tell that the pieces were disassembled, dyed, and then reassembled? Is it the discontinuous weft & warp? It seems like an unnecessarily laborious technique. Why did they avoid cutting? I seems to me that more thread is wasted by weaving individual pieces than would have been if pieces were cut from whole cloth. I ask because sometimes researchers are so intent on finding a new discover that they can’t see the forest for the trees. Also, art historians can’t be knowledgeable in every craft. Sometimes they are not expert in a particular technique. Has this technique been tested with modern day weavers? For the sake of science, you do have to be able to duplicate it.
Thanks for your comment on my post featuring the MFA’s tie-dyed Wari mantle. You hit the mark with questions concerning the choice of technically difficult and labor-intensive techniques used to create this masterwork, and whether this method has been replicated by contemporary weavers. We know how this tunic was fabricated through close readings of its physical structure by textile experts (textile conservators among them) and their analyses of the sequential steps that went towards the completion of the overall textile, including the weaving, dying and reassembling of the component parts to create its visually stunning patterning. Regarding the issue of labor, we learn by studying ancient Andean textiles that this very investment in the preparation of materials and expenditure of effort, not to mention the unparalled diversity and virtuosity of weaving techniques, how foundational textiles were as the preeminent form of cultural and aesthetic expression. The primacy of textiles in Andean culture is at the heart of the technical and innovative brilliance of its weave structures, unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. To cut cloth after such an expenditure of effort would likely have been an unthinkable concept, and would run counter to this notion of value placed on textile as structure. Modern day fiber artists have long been inspired and influenced by Andean weaving, such as Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, Ed Rossbach, and others who sought to push the medium of fiber to new dimensions. Just a few years ago, a workshop was held as part of the Textile Society of America’s 2016 conference in the technique of discontinuous warp and weft. Thank you for your great questions!