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

226
Fragment from a Garment?
Monkey in Crescent Headdress
Chimú or Lambayeque culture
AD 1000-1476
Camelid wool; tapestry weave
6½" x 4¾"
227
Medallion from a Garment?
Monkey in "Moon" Headdress
North Coast culture (Chimú?)
AD 1000-1476
Camelid wool; tapestry weave
6½" x 5"
The angular crescent that is the key symbol and visual
element in north coast figuration is employed here with
graphic simplicity to delineate the form of a seated or kneeling,
crowned monkey in profile.
Although abbreviated to a geometric shape, the animated
figure is instantly recognizable, and still carries the essential
head trophies.
A
hexagonal medallion supplies an innovative frame for a
similar rendering of a crowned monkey.
While the motif shares the zigzag profile of the figure
seen opposite (cat. 226), the depiction is pictorially more
complex and richer in color. The speckled cream-andbrown
background (achieved by spinning two shades of wool
together); the vibrant pink, red, and blue highlights; and the
small color shifts and striations reflect the visual ideas of an
imaginative weaver.
The bold face displays the light-colored muzzle of the yellowtailed
woolly monkey, a species endemic to the northern
Peruvian cloud forest (i.e., close to the region where the textile
was made). This realistic detail is offset by the more fanciful,
sharply serrated back of the animal, which may be borrowed
from the iguana-like figures depicted in cats. 224 and 225.
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