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

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