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Headcloth (c. 600–400 BCE): Art, History and Details

Headcloth at the Cleveland Museum of Art: c. 600–400 BCE, embroidery on tabby cloth; needle reseau and fringe at border. Explore the work's context, creator attribution and collection history.

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Headcloth (c. 600–400 BCE; Cleveland 1940.529)
Cleveland Museum of Art; The Norweb Collection · CC0 1.0 / Public Domain

Headcloth (c. 600–400 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The embroidered design consists entirely of felines, some of which are depicted with trophy heads. Both are very common motifs of Paracas art. The linear and highly stylized design as well as the limited spectrum of colors are characteristic of Paracas embroideries from the Middle Period.

Object facts

  • Title: Headcloth
  • Date: c. 600–400 BCE
  • Culture: Peru, South Coast, Paracas, Middle Period, c. 600-400 BC (Early Horizon, Epoch 10)
  • Type: Textile
  • Technique: embroidery on tabby cloth; needle reseau and fringe at border
  • Dimensions: Overall: 40.7 x 182.9 cm (16 x 72 in.)
  • Collection: T - Pre-Columbian
  • Department: Textiles
  • Accession number: 1940.529

A detail from the museum

Extremely dry conditions on Peru's desert coast allow for the extraordinary preservation of textiles.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.

Sources

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