Fig. 15. Central Coast artist. Tunic. Central Coast, Peru, 1000–1476. Cotton, camelid 昀椀bers, 33 × 36 in. (83.8 × 91.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Anonymous Gifts, 2015 (2015.291) panels have survived, and their remarkable uniformity The structural diversity of ancient Andean textiles is reinforces the idea that standardized production comes remarkable, ranging from painted plain weave to such with the rise of empire. complex constructions as slit tapestry, in which open slits At the other end of the spectrum, feathers adorn min- are left between adjacent areas of color (昀椀g. 15), and double iature garments that once formed part of votive offerings. cloth, a reversible fabric 昀椀nished on both sides. Inventive Three feathered dresses, made several centuries after the weavers sometimes even employed multiple techniques to fall of the Wari Empire, were among over a hundred minia- compose a single piece of cloth. Chancay weavers (1000– ture garments reportedly found in a cache in the lower Ica 1470) in particular experimented with open weaves, such Valley (昀椀g. 14). These works were created using the same as gauzes. Openwork headcloths, likely made for women technologies as full-size garments for women; however, by women, usually had a rectangular grid upon which 昀椀g- the openings for the arms and head were sewn closed. ures were embroidered with thicker cotton yarns (昀椀g. 16). These small alterations suggest that the dresses were In keeping with formal patterns established thousands of offerings in themselves rather than garments for 昀椀gural years earlier, a single motif—often a feline or serpent head sculptures. The fronts of the dresses feature checkerboard with large eyes and a mouth—was repeated and reversed designs, while the backs have horizontal bands or solid in regular intervals within zigzag bands in in昀椀nity patterns. colors. Notably, the feathers were carefully clipped to Openwork was also incorporated into textiles in which maintain the crisp regularity of the lines in the patterns. various weaving techniques were combined to create 15