Ancient Peru feather art

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Feathered Hanging (detail), 7th–8th century. Peru. Wari. Feathers on cotton, camelid hair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Peru feather art collection of twelve colorful feather panels was first exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1979. Spectacular well preserved panels were made by the Wari peoples of southern Peru between about 6th and 10th centuries. About ancient feather art became known In February 1943, when local newspapers in Arequipa (southern Peru) reported that villagers had discovered an ancient “burial ground”. The site with findings became known as Corral Redondonot. The feather panels rank among the most luxurious and unusual works created by textile artists in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest in 1532.

Feathered Hanging, 7th–8th century. Peru. Wari. Feathers on cotton, camelid hair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The villagers excavated bodies and many offerings, among them miniature objects and male and female figurines, made by the Inca (15th–16th century). The most spectacular objects, created by the Wari people in the 7th–10th century, became ceramic vessels, that contained large, rolled-up feathered panels. Most of the panels were completely covered with the fine body feathers of the blue and yellow macaw, laid out in rectangles; others are entirely yellow or blue and orange. Perhaps the Wari hung the luxurious feathered panels on the walls while they performed rituals prior to burial.

Diagram of slip-knotted structure for all-yellow panel. Diagram by Christine Giuntini

Made of finely woven cotton cloth and measuring about seven by two feet on average, the panels are completely covered with the small iridescent body feathers of the blue and yellow macaw in an arresting design of large rectangles. They rank among the most luxurious and unusual works created by textile artists in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest in 1532.