Page 597 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)
P. 597

tan  or white  cotton  (A.  Rowe 1978, 6-7;  J. Rowe
             2
        *979/ 39-M°)-
          Qompi garments  and blankets were silky  soft,
        often  bright-colored,  and decorated with  feathers
        or shells.  Religious statues were screened most of
        the time with  qompi curtains (Murra  1962,  719).
        No one was permitted  to wear a qompi  garment
        unless it had been given by the ruler; the unau-
        thorized wearing of such cloth was, apparently, a
        capital offense.  Vicuña wool was carefully con-
        trolled  and could be worn only by the  royal fam-
        ily;  llama wool was in common  use.  Ordinary
        weaving, rather  thick and rough, was called in
        Quechua  awasqa;  it was woven  on a  different
        loom from  that used for  qompi.
          Pre-Columbian Andean weavers were some of
        the finest in the preindustrial world.  They used
        a backstrap or body loom,  which had one end
        attached to a vertical object and the other end tied
        to the body of the  weaver. The looms are depicted
        in the  Guarnan Poma manuscript  (1980, 191 [ms
        215],  193 [ms 217],  535  [ms 564],  611 [ms  645],
        612 [ms 647]); they are still used in the  Andes.
        Even today  spinning and weaving are  important
        occupations in the  highlands  for people of both
        sexes and all ages.
          The motif  of this tunic is unusual — it is not  a
        standard design — but the  sides are closed with
        typical Inka binding.              E. p. B.







        454
        ALPACA

        Inka
        silver
                           l
        23.8 x 20.6 x 5.2  (y/4 x /s  x  2)
                          8
        American Museum  of Natural History,  New  York
        The alpaca's fine long hair gives it great value as a
        wool-producing animal.  When  allowed to grow,  moon  on a nearby island (Bandelier 1910,  pi.  LVIII).  specific Inka calendrical rituals  (Guarnan Poma
        alpaca hairs can reach 75 cm (2^/2  in.) in length;  Like small gold and silver human  figures, camelids  1980,  228  [ms 254], 826  [ms 880];  see also J.
        the animals are usually  sheared  regularly,  of precious metal were used as  offerings.  Rowe  1946,  255, 308-311;  Flores Ochoa  1982,
        however, producing shorter  fibers.  Alpacas are  This object is fashioned of soldered sheet  silver;  80).The heart,  lungs,  and entrails were used for
        more restricted to high altitudes than  llamas are;  details are accentuated with  repoussé and chasing.  auguries about crops. The animals were associated
        the  ideal elevation for them  is about 5,000 meters                          E.P.B.  with  rain and fertility.  Their  remains have been
        (16,000 feet)  (Flores Ochoa  1982,  64).  The alpaca,                                found in Inka-period burials.
        which is not used as a pack animal, has probably                                        A white llama was a symbol of royal  authority.
        been domesticated in the Andes for some  6,000  455                                   One was sacrificed  every morning  at the  temple
        years.  There are no wild alpacas or llamas;  the                                     of the  sun in Cuzco. At the April calendrical ritual
        wild members of the family are the  even finer-  LLAMA                                in Cuzco, a pure white llama was dressed in a red
        haired vicuñas and the larger, coarse-haired  Inka                                    tunic and gold ear ornaments.  Other llamas were
        guanacos.                                  cast silver with gold,  cinnabar           sacrificed  in its name, and life-size camelids of
          This silver piece and cat. 455 were found near            l   3                     gold and silver, wearing blankets, were carried
        the  sacred rock on the  island of Titicaca among  22.9  X  21.6  X 4.4  (9  X 8 /2  X 1 /4J  in procession on litters.  The white llama, repre-
        offerings  in a place that had been sacred to  the  American Museum  of Natural History,  New  York  senting the  first  llama on earth, had special
        Colla people before their  conquest by the Inka.  The llama was the prime sacrificial animal in the  human  attendants;  it sometimes  accompanied the
        The place then became sacred to the  Inka, who  Andes.  Early Spanish accounts describe the dif-  Inka ruler and it was allowed to die naturally  (al-
        built a temple to the sun there and a temple to the  ferent quantities and colors of llamas sacrificed  at  though  its death may have been hastened by the

        596  CIRCA  1492
   592   593   594   595   596   597   598   599   600   601   602