Mantle Border Fragment with Oculate Being (200 BCE–200 CE): Art, History and Details

Mantle Border Fragment with Oculate Being (200 BCE–200 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This border fragment features a supernatural being apparently at the center of a religion that swept the south coast during the final stages of the Paracas culture. Known as the Oculate Being after its huge eyes, it is affiliated with fertility and violence—note the darts it holds in one hand. Both large and small versions of the being are embroidered on the fragment, which likely comes from the border of a large, rectangular, shawl-like garment known as a mantle.

Object facts

• Title: Mantle Border Fragment with Oculate Being
• Date: 200 BCE–200 CE
• Culture: Peru, South Coast, Paracas (Cavernas) style (700 BCE–1 CE)
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: camelid fiber, embroidery over foundation cloth
• Dimensions: Overall: 116.2 x 16.5 cm (45 3/4 x 6 1/2 in.); Mounted: 127 x 25.4 cm (50 x 10 in.)
• Collection: T - Pre-Columbian
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1985.193

Collection credit

Gift of The Textile Art Alliance

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.