Tunic (c. 300 BCE–200 CE): Art, History and Details

Tunic (c. 300 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:

Brightly dyed wool yarns found in many ancient Peruvian textiles come mainly from alpacas that were domesticated and selectively bred to produce long, soft, lustrous fiber. The finely spun yarns in a broad range of colors as seen on this tunic—well preserved after approximately 2,000 years of burial—attest to the Paracas people’s considerable artistry. A double-headed bird motif appears multiple times throughout the tunic’s design.

Object facts

• Title: Tunic
• Date: c. 300 BCE–200 CE
• Culture: Peru, South Coast, Paracas (Cavernas) style
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Alpaca wool: plain weave with embroidery and warp substitution
• Dimensions: Overall: 94 x 83.8 cm (37 x 33 in.); Mounted: 111.8 x 101.6 cm (44 x 40 in.)
• Collection: T - Pre-Columbian
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1946.227

A detail from the museum

Fine textiles were one of the most prestigious commodities in the ancient Andes.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.

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.