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

221
Panel from a Tunic?
Winged Staff-Bearer/Crustaceans
Chimú culture
AD 1000-1470
Cotton; supplementary warp and
weft (or doublecloth?)
9½" x 28"
Like elite people all over the ancient world, the important
personae of the north coast kingdoms were transported
on palanquins and litters. In this idiosyncratic image, litter and
litter-carrier are actually conflated in the form of a backwardbending
figure that supports a winged staff-bearer on his flat
stomach.
Since there was a long visual tradition in regional art styles of
representing inanimate objects as alive or animate, it is possible
that such a litter or hammock (or even an ocean-going raft) is
embodied by this contorted personage.
The crescent-moon headdress, as well as the fish floating
underneath the human raft, are certainly emblematic of the
ocean—as is the naturalistic crayfish or shrimp motif that is the
prominent focus of the lower design register.
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