An Examination of an Inka(?) Aksu in the Collections of The Textile Museum

Authors

Shelley Burian, The Textile Museum and The George Washington University Museum, WashingtonFollow

Date of this Version

2024

Document Type

Article

Citation

Published in IX Jornadas Internacionales de Textiles Precolombinos y Amerindianos / 9th International Conference on Pre-Columbian and Amerindian Textiles, Museo delle Culture, Milan, 2022. (Lincoln, Nebraska: Zea Books, 2024)

DOI: 10.32873/unl.dc.zea.1618

Comments

Copyright © 2024 Shelley Burian.

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary results and conclusions from an examination of an exceedingly rare example of a weft-face and tapestry-woven aksu in the collections of The Textile Museum. Patterned with figurative butterflies, the garment closely resembles those depicted by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala in several of his illustrations of ceremonies and elite women. Its features present challenges for determining its dates and the level of social status it represents or confers. The similarity between the aksu’s butterflies and those in a checkerboard unku in the Field Museum provides suggestive evidence for its use in an official state setting.

Este artículo presenta los resultados preliminares y las conclusiones de un examen de un ejemplo extremadamente raro de un aksu tejido con cara de trama y tapiz en las colecciones del Museo Textil. Esta prenda, estampada con mariposas figurativas, se parece mucho a las representadas por Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala en varias de sus ilustraciones de ceremonias y mujeres de élite. Sus características presentan desafíos para determinar su cronología y el nivel de estatus social que representa o confiere. La similitud entre las mariposas del aksu y las de un unku de tablero de ajedrez en el Field Museum proporciona evidencia sugerente para su uso en las ceremonias oficiales del estado.