Border Fragment (100 BCE-200 CE): Artwork and History

Border Fragment (100 BCE-200 CE) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Nasca South coast, Peru.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This small but showy textile composed of three-dimensional birds, butterflies, fish, and spiders was likely a border attached to the edge of a solid-colored plain woven textile. Remarkably detailed, these types of borders celebrate the natural world and highlight the achievements of Nazca dyers. The multiple vibrant colors, produced only through the use of natural substances such as indigo, further emphasizes the natural world’s abundance.

Object facts

• Title: Border Fragment
• Date: 100 BCE-200 CE
• Artist attribution: Nasca South coast, Peru
• Place of origin: Peru
• Medium: Cotton, plain weave band; embroidered with cotton and wool (camelid) in stem and cross-knit loop stitches; edged with cross-knit looping tabs
• Dimensions: 5.4 × 183.5 cm (2 1/8 × 72 1/4 in.)
• Type: Textile
• Department: Textiles
• Reference number: 1956.1267.2

Collection credit

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Chauncey B. Borland

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.