Page 595 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

237-247)- This tunic came from the same tomb as
cat. 449 at Los Majuelos, Rio Grande de Nazca,
but it is probable that neither was made on the
south coast.
The early Spanish conquerors were astonished
not only by the fineness of Inka cloth and the
value placed on it by the native Americans, but
also by the government warehouses throughout
the empire that were filled to the ceiling with
bundles of cloth (Cieza de Leon 1959,177; Murra
1962, 717). Weaving was as important to the state
as food production. The obligation to weave cloth
for state and religious needs went along with
the right to use community fibers for one's own
purposes. Both the kinds of fibers used and the
designs woven into the tunics were carefully con-
trolled; the sizes are also very close, averaging
90-95 cm (35-37 in.) in height and 75-77 cm
(29V4-3O in.) in width (A. Rowe 1978, 7; J. Rowe
1979). The standardization of designs in all media
was a means of enforcing the coherence of the
Inka empire, as was the use of a standard, official
language, Quechua, throughout the empire, even
where local languages prevailed for everyday use.
E.P.B.

451

TUNIC
Inka
wool and cotton
7
91x76.5 (35 /sx 30]
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections,
Washington

This man's garment, which is probably from the This t'oqapu tunic has twenty or more motifs, qeros made of gold were presented with tunics as
south coast of Peru, is woven of interlocked tapes- depending on how one defines an individual ritual gifts to leaders of peoples newly under Inka
try. It is notable for its fine spinning, the excellent motif. These have been examined as a form of rule or to successful captains of allies in conquest;
preservation of its brilliant colors, and its complex syllabic writing to be read as an incantation these were later used or displayed in ritual
design. Such a design of small square or rectangu- (Barthel 1971; de la Jara 1975). Most scholars, (Cummins n.p.).
lar motifs is called, in the Quechua language of however, believe that the motifs are part of a sym- The warp of this tunic is Z-spun, S-doubled
the Inka, t'oqapu. The present garment is the bolic language but not true writing, which early cotton; the weft is Z-spun, S-doubled wool
only known complete tunic with an allover design Andean cultures lacked. Associations have been (Lothrop, Foshag, and Mahler 1957, 284-285).
of these motifs. In his 1615 manuscript Guaman found for some of the motifs. The four-part The sides are reinforced with five multiple warps;
Poma illustrated similar allover designs on tunics motifs may refer to the Inka empire, Tawantin- the heading is all of interlocked loops. The striped
worn by a number of Inka rulers and their suyu (world of the four parts). One motif is a binding is accomplished with a cross-knit loop
descendants (1980). The motifs also appear in miniature checkerboard tunic (see cat. 449), and stitch. This tunic may have been made shortly
three rows at the waist of several existing tunics another is the key motif seen on cat. 450. The after the Spanish conquest. E.P.B.
(J. Rowe 1979, 242, 257-259). In the Guaman motifs on this and other surviving tunics are dif-
Poma manuscript three-band tunics are shown ferent from and more complex than those shown
being worn by rulers and members of the royal in the Guaman Poma manuscript, where the
family, including women, commonly in ritual motifs are placed in a regular, diagonal repetition.
scenes. The motifs may appear also in one hori- Some of the t'oqapu motifs appear on wooden
zontal or two vertical stripes. qeros, a form of tumbler used by the Inkas. Small

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