Shamans, Supernaturals & Animal Spirits: Mythic Figures From the Ancient Andes

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Fragment from a Garment or Hanging
Deity or Ruler?
Chimú or Lambayeque culture
AD 1000-1476
Cotton, camelid wool; interlocking and slit tapestry weave
9" x 30"
Literature
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino 2005, 53.
A
delicacy of execution and sinuous curvilinearity of form,
as well as exceptional color, characterize this beautiful
Lambayeque-style composition. Set within alternating pink
and yellow diagonal bands, the fresco-like design represents
the principal north coast icon, whom we might tentatively
identify as one of the mythological heroes or culture founders,
Naymlap or Tacaynamo. The figure is surrounded by the longtailed
birds that make frequent appearance in the region's
visual mythology.
Like the dynastic rulers and nobility of the Chimor and
Lambayeque kingdoms, this personage is attired in ceremonial
costume consisting of a plumed headdress, a neck ruff or collar
and a patterned breechcloth. Bags, ornaments or stylized trophy
heads dangle from his elbows. (This ornamental convention
can be traced to the deity represented on the Tiwanaku Sun
Portal.) The Chimú were avid tattoo artists and body painters,
as reflected in the jaguar or anaconda markings on the figure’s
chest and legs.
This designation of supernatural or shamanic status is reinforced
when the image is reversed, revealing the feet to be birds, and
the arms and body to be a double-headed snake.
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