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

286
Fragment from a Tunic
Monkey Personage with Birds
Chancay culture
AD 1300-1476
Cotton; painting
4" x 9½"
Although the Chancay style represents the final flowering of a 2000-year-long tradition of
textile painting on the central and south coasts that began during the Chavín epoch, the
iconography rarely displays the visual intricacy or symbolic complexity of that very ancient
material.
The motifs replicated on this painted, fringed tunic border indicate the use of a stamp or
template. Yet the design is fairly complex, executed with dynamic curving lines that evoke a
sense of fluidity and exuberant energy. In a lively and playful pairing, a monkey-tailed personage
with an elaborate, multipart headdress is linked to the stylized bird that appears in numerous
Chimú and Chancay contexts. Flying pelicans and fish establish the marine setting.
261