Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

1976

The weaving of original textiles influenced by preColumbian Peruvian weaving

Nan Emma Schroeder
Iowa State University

Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd

Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Fine Arts Commons
Recommended Citation
Schroeder, Nan Emma, "The weaving of original textiles influenced by pre-Columbian Peruvian weaving " (1976). Retrospective Theses
and Dissertations. Paper 7972.

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Repository @ Iowa State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective
Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Iowa State University. For more information, please contact
digirep@iastate.edu.

The weaving of original textiles influenced by

pre-Columbian Peruvian weaving
by
Nan Emma Schroeder

A Thesis Submitted to the

Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Department:
Major:

Applied Art
Applied Art (Craft Design)

Signatures have been redacted for privacy

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

1976

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
INTRODUCTION

REVIEW OF L !TERATURE

OBSERVATIONS IN PERU

10

ORIGINAL WORK

51

SLIDE IDENTIFICATION

56

SUMMARY

60

B!BL IOGRAPHY

62

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

64

APPENDIX A:

GLOSSARY

65

APPENDIX B:

PERSONS INTERVIEWED

67

/.29'85/

INTRODUCTION

Pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles have been under study since the discovery of textile artifacts in the burial grounds of ancient Peru.

Be-

cause of the great abundance of textiles, a knowledge of weaving techniques was needed by the archeologists and anthropologists.

Junius Bird,

Lila O'Neale and Alfred Kroeber are among the prominent scholars who
have investigated these textiles and have written articles and books expanding the body of knowledge on the subject (1, 2, 14, 15).

The Peru-

vian scholar, Julio C. Tello, one of the first natives to take an interest in artifacts, discovered the gravesites at Paracas in 1925.

Grace

Goodell, a student of Junius Bird and a former Peace Corps volunteer, has
researched contemporary weaving to show links to the past.

In her

article, "The Cloth of the Quechuas", she discusses the production of

high-quality textiles in the altitudes which reflect the high standards
of the past (9).
In contrast to the approach taken by the archeologists I am striving to focus this study of Peruvian textiles from a pragmatic and a human
viewpoint.

As a weaver I am interested in weaving techniques, use of

color and materials used in pre-Columbian Peru.

The ancient textiles

with which I have come in contact have provided me with increased technical knowledge as well as sources of inspiration for my original work.
In the course of my research I reviewed the literature concerning
pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles and traveled to Peru to study both ancient
and contemporary textiles.

Along with the study of pre-Columbian

2
Peruvian textiles in museums I went to villages to observe the handwoven
textiles being produced today.

I was seeking evidence of links to the

past with the creative innovations of the present.

lhe first chapter is a brief survey of the history of Peruvian weaving meant to provide an overview of pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles including techniques used, types of yarn, dye sources and the uses of
textiles produced.

In the second chapter I will relate my research

experiences in Peru.

Beginning with the pre-Columbian textiles which I

found in the museums in Lima I go on to discuss the contemporary handwoven textiles in terms of export items and acceptance of them by the
Peruvian public.

The last section of this chapter concentrates on the

observations of weavers and markets selling handwoven textiles made in

Huancayo and the Mantaro Valley, Cuzco and Puno.

The third chapter ana-

lyzes the sources of inspiration for my original textiles and their relation to Peruvian weaving which influenced them.

lhe last chapter is a

narration of the slides which relate to the research and the original
work.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Peruvian textiles have a rich history and evidence of their existence can be established as far back as 2500 B.C.

This long development

of weaving up to the Spanish invasion has provided almost every textile

technique that is known to us today.
of the whole society.

Textile production was a concern

Textiles served daily functions, were used for rit-

uals, as tribute and were important in the burial of the dead.

Because

of this importance given textiles the author wishes to include a brief

history of Peruvian weaving prior to the Spanish invasion.

We have more

knowledge of textiles in this area than in much of the rest of the world
because of the unique climatic conditions.

The coastal area has virtually

no rain and is almost entirely sandy so that many pre-Columbian textiles

and other artifacts buried with the dead have been well-preserved in
tombs dug in the sand.

However, in the rainy mountain and jungle areas

little has been preserved.

The earliest known fabrics dating from 2500 B.C. were found at
Huaca Prieta.

Twining dominated suggesting a lack of any heddling device

on the loom (8).

It was stated that there were woven textiles as

far back as 2000 B.C. (2).

Although there are no looms from that time

there are textiles which compare with later loom-woven ones.

Ceramic

and textile periods were once thought to coincide, but now it is known
that they are not necessarily the same (16).

The reasons for difficulty

in conducting accurate research are due to the lack of a written language

and the great mobility of the early peoples.

Historians may never know

in whi.c h specific area the textiles originated.

The grave robbers

(huagueros) increased the problem because they have stripped the gravesites.

Textile research makes use of other information gleaned in the

same graves.

From drawings of costumed figures on ceramic pieces knowl-

edge has been gained concerning style of garments and patterns on textiles.
The difficulty in recording exact time periods in Peruvian history
has led to disagreement concerning dates.

While approximate dates are

available most textiles are described in general time periods such as

early, middle and late.

Some textiles are described by the location in

which they were found thus defining a definite textile style.

The tex-

tiles of Nazca and Paracas are examples of those found in gravesites

with which scholars have been able to record a common style.

Nazca and

Paracas are both regional cultures which thrived in the early period,
approximately 300 B.C. until 300 A.D. (2).

There were numerous other

local cultures throughout history which rose and diminished in importance.

These peoples were allowed individuality even when there were

pan-Peruvian cultures which conquered vast areas of Peru.

The Tiahuanaco

culture spread across a large area of Peru in the late period while the
last pre-Hispanic culture, the Incas, continued to conquer an even
larger territory.

The final defeat by the Spanish in the early 1500s

brought the end to the last indigenous civilization.

As was stated earlier the most ancient textiles found, which date
before Nazca and Paracas, come from the dry sandy coastal areas.

The

finds include nets and fragments of textiles made of cotton and the bast
fiber, maguey.

Both white and brown cotton were grown in Peru as well

as maguey.
ing.

'!be three were blended before the first spinning or by ply-

'!be natural colored fibers were used along with a blue dye and a

red pigment which was painted on the woven fabric (2).

Bird also noted

that while pouches and fishnets were distinguishable, there was no textile similar to the poncho and in fact the purpose of many of the textiles is yet unknown.
'!be technology of weaving is believed to have been developed to a
high degree at an early time.

Once a specific technique was initiated

it was used in a variety of ways depending on the designs and effects desired.

By the early Nazca period almost all techniques ever used were

known.

'lbese include kelim, interlocking, and eccentric tapestry; pat-

tern weaves; weft scaffolding; twining; plaiting; lace; brocade; wrapped

weaving and double cloth (15).

In some periods certain techniques were

used more frequently than others.

In the Nazca and Paracas cultures

ornament was usually created with embroidery covering the major part of
the textile.

In other periods embroidery was limited to borders and

subordinate areas.

'!be Tiahuanaco culture is known for its tapestries

of highland origin depicting scenes of the area.

Specific techniques

and particular colors are associated with each period.

Peruvian weavers have apparently used color to full advantage.
'Ibey had unlimited natural sources of dyes.

Using plants, animals and

minerals they were able to produce a wide range of colors.

'Ibey were

masters at processing the dye indigo which creates a blue color and the
red dye, cochineal, which is produced from an insect living on cactus.
Yellows were derived from flowers, the ochreous earth and lichens.

Brown dyes were created from a variety of tree seeds and barks.

For

example, seeds of the native molle trees were ground and used to paint
textiles.

By combining dyes other colors were produced.

A great

variety of neutral colors in both cotton and the animal wools were
found in Peru.
brown color.

Natural cotton varied from a very clear white to a dark

Animal wools have an even wider range of values from white,

beige and grey to the very darkest brown and black.

colors were also dyed.
the dye as well as wool.

Some of these natural

Cotton was more limited because it did not accept

However, the dye indigo proved to be the excep-

tion so that blue is found along with natural white and brown in many
plain weave textiles. 1

Wool generally took the dye very well and textiles

from 3000 years ago still retain their vibrant hues.

Textiles from the

Nazca and Paracas cultures display deep reds and blues and the colors
are still easily distinguishable.
At different times in history the predominant fiber content of textiles also varied.

Cotton and wool were used in all periods.

However,

all wool textiles were prevalent in the early periods; a combination of

wool and cotton was common in the middle periods and all cotton fabrics
were most common in the late periods yet textiles containing both fibers
can be found frequently in all time periods (15).

Cotton was used as

warp for tapestry and wool was used for the weft.

Natural cotton was

often used for backgrounds.

The choice of fiber depended on the technique

1The author analyzed pre-Columbian textile fragments from the Department of Textile and Clothing's Historic Textile Collection at Iowa
State University. In that process she found several pieces woven from
natural brown and white cotton yarns along with some dyed blue.

7
used (16).

The wool-bearing animals, such as alpacas and llamas, were

apparently domesticated early in the pre-Columbian period because there

is evidence that the wool was processed.

Wool was used on the coast

from that time and since the wool-bearing animals did not live there it
is certain that there was trade with the highlands.
Fleece, spindles and yarn were conunonly found in munnny bundles showing the importance of spinning.

For spinning people used delicate spindles

made of wood and pointed at both ends with small whorls usually made of
terra cotta placed on the center of the shaft.

The exceedingly fine

yarns spun were even and strong though often overspun.

Two-ply yarn was

the most connnon.

The backstrap loom was the loom on which most textiles were produced
and was used in Peru throughout the entire period prior to the Spanish
invasion (15).

The loom was controlled by string heddles on a heddle rod

and swords, with the weight of the body creating the tension.

While the

loom was simple, great complexity in design was created by the extreme
and total control exercised by the weaver.

The loom varied in size

according to the desired width of the finished product and generally the
pieces were narrow.

Of the 650 pre-Columbian pieces examined by O'Neale

and Kroeber in 1930 only fifteen of them were more than thirty inches
wide (15).

Large pieces, such as blankets, were woven in two narrow

strips joined at the selvedges.

It is thought that some larger pieces

were done on a loom fixed to the ground with four stakes (3).

The tex-

tiles produced on these looms were both solid colors and patterned.
Many varied motifs were common throughout history.

The puma (cat),

8
the bird, human figures, the fish, the snake and floral designs as well
as geometric patterns of lines, boxes and steps were typical themes.
1be motifs were apparently selected according to the weaving technique
used.

Animal and human forms did not have realistic proportions.

Often

the heads on both human figures and pumas were large in relation to the
bodies.

Motifs were used to fill the space rather than portray a real-

istic scene.

Colors had no apparent relationship to the subjects, but

instead appear to be more related to the fiber (16).

If a motif was re-

peated on a textile it was not necessarily in the same color.

Many

Paracas embroideries used one motif throughout the entire fabric, but the
same combination of colors was never repeated.

Tapestries of the later

Chancay period sometimes had repeated motifs in the same colors.

Te~tiles

of ancient Peru were not only limited to fibers, but had

other materials added during the weaving or applied later.

An example

of the combination of materials is the feather cloth constructed with

brightly colored feathers from the exotic jungle birds.
created patterns realistic and geometric in form.

1be feathers

Textiles ' which had

belonged to high-ranking officials have been found with gold, silver

and stones applied.
Uses for all of the found textiles are not known.
were garments or parts of garments.

Many textiles

According to Nathalie H. Zimnern

(17) the dress of women was less elaborate indicating they held an inferior position to men.

It is thought that some mantles were woven only

for the funeral bundle because of their extremely large size.

tiles may have been for ceremonial uses in the temples.

Other tex-

Since the

Spanish destroyed so many textiles at the time of the invasion, studies

are limited to those found in tombs, but drawings by Felipe Guaman Poma
de Ayala at the time of the Spanish invasion provide insight into the
textiles worn (17).
There are many less important but interesting textiles and fibers
such as wigs of human hair, small tapestry dolls and small bags which
have been found in tombs.

Textiles played an important role in the life

of the pre-Columbian Peruvians.

Both the production of the textiles

and the use of the textiles occupied a part of the life of the people.
From this background the author undertook a study of Peruvian textiles
today and also used the pre-Columbian textiles as inspiration for her
original designs.

10
OBSERVATIONS IN PERU

I proposed to my committee the study of pre-Columbian weaving in

Peru and the search for evidence linking that with weaving of the present
day.

I also wished to gain knowledge in the field of historic textiles

and to learn more about weaving in Peru today.

I began by studying the

major resources available locally in the field of Peruvian textiles.

With the help of Peruvian friends I was able to contact some key people
who would later prove to be my primary sources.
I left Iowa for Peru in June, 1975 .

Upon arriving in Lima I stayed

with the family of a Peruvian friend, the Gamaniel Perez's, where I was
included in the activities of the family.
me many things which I saw.

They were kind to clarify for

My friend, Elva Perez, introduced me to

people in the weaving field, translated for me, transported me to plac es

of interest and was an excellent advisor.

Because of their interest in

me and their encouragement I was able to experience much more than I

anticipated.
While conducting the study in Peru there were certain limitations
that influenced my findings.

It was necessary to work within limited

geographic areas of Peru because of time available, expense involved and

difficulty in obtaining transportation.

Three areas were visited:

1)

Lima and environs, 2) Huancayo and the Mantaro Valley and 3) the areas
including Cuzco and Puno.

Though these represent three distinct loca-

tions of Peru with different textile styles, I would like to add that
other equally important areas of textile production exist.

For example,

11

in the northern part of Peru, Chota, located near Cajamarca, is famous

for high quality cotton and woolen textiles.

In the jungle region much

work is done with basketry and weaving with cotton.

for the mass-production of woolen rugs.
of innovative weavers in the Sierras.

Ayacucho is known

San Pedro de Cajas is a village

In addition to these, there are

innumerable small villages in the high altitudes where some of the most
exquisite weaving of the past is still being done today.
There were other restrictions which created some difficulties in
gathering the material I desired.

I was somewhat limited in my knowledge

of the language at the outset and because of a limited budget I could not
afford an interpreter.

It was also a disadvantage to be an outsider.

In

most areas the weavers were of Indian origin who have a justifiable distrust in European-looking people.

In some places I was able to talk to

people because of an acquaintance I had made.

Without a special contact

it was extremely difficult to meet weavers, especially in Cuzco and Puno.

My research focused on two areas of study.

At the outset I sought

to learn about the museum collections of pre-Columbian textiles.

After

achieving a degree of familiarity with those textiles I began to visit

weavers in the Sierra area east of Lima.

At the end of my stay in Peru

I traveled to southern Peru to visit Cuzco and Puno.

Lima and Environs
National Musetml of Anthropology and Archeology
The first three weeks of my stay were spent in Lima.

With the help

of Magdalena de Monzarz and Pedro Rojas I was able to gain permission to

enter the National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology to examine the

12
textile collection and to observe the textile conservation section.
Mr. Edourd Versteylen, Director of Conservation at the museum and also
the head of the textile section, was interested in my project and encouraged me to enter the museum each day for research and observations after
an initial tour of the museum grounds.

There were large warehouses of

ceramics, bones and mummy bundles including over 3000 unopened mummy
bundles.
In the textile section the storage space and the work area were in
the same large room.
in that section.

Mr. Versteylen was the only trained textile expert

He had two workers helping him at that time and one

other woman was doing the consolidation of a Chancay textile.

There were

no provisions for the cleaning of textiles and storage space for the
consolidated pieces was limited.
On my first day of observations I was with Mrs. Estela Uriarte Company, textile conservationist.

She has been working at the museum for

over twenty-five years and has spent thousands of hours working with
damaged textiles, making them ready for storage or exhibition.

Mr.

Versteylen emphasizes the consolidation of the textiles, not conservation, restoration nor preservation.

He wants to keep the textiles in the

condition in which the textiles were found making certain they do not
deteriorate.
support.

If a textile is partially gone another textile is added for

Since arriving at the museum about two years before, Mr.

Versteylen has established goals and methods to achieve the consolidation.

Mrs. Uriarte Company was working on a piece of tapestry from the
Chancay culture.

The background of black weft yarns had completely

13
disintegrated allowing the warp yarns which connected the areas of multicolored motifs to show (Slide 1).

To consolidate this textile she was

sewing down each warp yarn as well as the tapestry motifs to a black
cotton fabric.

She worked only in the daylight in order to match the

colors of thread.

She kept covered all of the areas of the textile ex-

cept where she was working to prevent fading.

Mrs. Uriarte Company used

a very soft cotton thread that matched each color being sewn down.

When

she found loose threads, she carefully removed them and kept them.

The

tapestry on which she worked was a particularly difficult piece.

She

was working on the piece when I was at the museum on June 12, 1975 and
she had been working on it since December, 1974.

When I returned to the

museum in late August I learned she had finally completed the project.
When consolidation of a textile was finished it was mounted on a stretcher
frame (Lima, June 13, 1975).
Another worker in the textile section, Maria Isabel Fuentealba O.,
was collecting yellow yarns from the textile fragments for research to
be conducted on the sources of yellow dyes.

Matide Cueto de Carasco was

preparing large-scale models of pre-Columbian weaving techniques to use

in helping students of pre-Columbian textiles to see and identify them.
There was a professor from San Marcos University doing research on the
guipu, the ancient knot records.
I spent one day looking through piles of textile fragments to become
acquainted with examples of pre-Columbian fabrics.

Mr. Versteylen had

prepared a paper including the discovery of them for the Emery Roundtable
(7).

They had been found while changing a display in the museum.

14

Although the frames were soiled, the textiles were in good condition.
It was noted that they had survived at least two or three floods in that
storage area.

Many of these textiles were from the Paracas culture and

included embroidered borders of mantles and unkus (Slide 2).

The major

part of the fabric was brown plain weave cloth. . The motifs of the embroideries, including warriors, serpents, birds and an all-over floral
motif were repeated but the color varied in each.

In some borders all

the space was filled with designs while in others the ground cloth was
dominant.

There was a great variety of color, however; dark greens,

blues, reds and some yellow were most conunon.

Any combination seemed

possible but red was used most frequently.

In other cases I found coca bags with delicately and tightly
wrapped warps on the fringe (Slide 3), some gauze weaves, netting and
plaiting.

The colors were still bright.

The gauze weaves were usually

woven from extremely fine yarns and looked delicate (Slide 4).
cially interesting were the fragments of backstrap looms.

Espe-

While they

were not in good condition I was able to see the string heddles and the
heading yarns (Slide 5).

The sticks at both ends appeared to be made of

bamboo on one loom.

On one occasion the museum staff was preparing workbaskets found in

munnny bundles for storage.

At that time I observed the numerous varia-

tions in color of the raw cotton from white to dark brown.

I asked Mr.

Versteylen about the natural blue cotton but he said that it had never
existed.

It was only a myth because they dyed cotton blue from such

early days (Lima, June 18, 1975).

There were balls of finely spun yarn,

15
unspun cotton and yarn on spindles.

The workbaskets contained swords,

needles and bones used in weaving.

The catalogue cards used to record each textile in the museum collection included the size of each piece, fiber content, technique and
threads per inch, as well as a black and white photograph.

Mr.

Versteylen instituted the cataloging when he joined the museum staff.

Inside the museum area open to the public were displays arranged by
historical periods.
ganized displays.

It was a lesson in history to follow the well-orExplanations describing artifacts including textiles,

pottery, metal work and stone carving were thorough.

There were also some

scale models of historic sites such as Machu Picchu.

It was encouraging

to see how much the museum was used.

Every day there were long lines of

grey-uniformed school boys and girls waiting to visit the museum.

While at the museum I was fortunate to discuss with Mr. Versteylen
the situation of pre-Columbian textiles and the textiles of today.

He

felt that textiles in Peru today were stagnant because there was no innovation but only repetition of conmton designs.

He has tried to promote

creativity in the textile arts with little success.

In the future he would

like to have a museum where the progress of textiles from the very beginning to the present could be shown together.

He presented this idea

before the Emery Roundtable stating the need for such a museum (7).

He

felt that the weavers of Peru have the skills of the past and some specific techniques need to preserved before they disappear yet creativity needs
to be encouraged.
with the past

His idea for this institution would be a living tie

(Lima~

June 12, 1975).

16
In late August I returned to the museum to bid farewell to the
staff.

At that time there was a team of anthropologists working on the

opening of two Paracas mummy bundles to commemorate the first discovery

of the Paracas tombs by Julio C. Tello on July 26, 1925.

The team was

made up of James Vreeland, Maria Isabel Fuentealba O., Dr. Tamotsu Ogata
and Dr. Hilda Vidal.
The unwrapping of the mummy was conducted in the open patio so that
the public could view the process.

It was an educational experience and

the people watching were quite interested in it.

But there were problems

because the humid air had caused the mummy to turn from light brown to
black.

After thousands of years of entombment it was amazing to see it

deteriorate so quickly.
The bundle which I viewed had been x-rayed before opening to establish the body's position.

Then the work proceeded with great excitement.

The body had already been uncovered and they had found a beautiful embroidered cloth as well as a tightly braided wig with yellow feathers.
The body was covered with a plain weave white and brown varigated cotton
cloth .

This varigation probably was achieved by mixing white and brown

cotton during the spinning process.

La Huaca de la Florida
On June 19, 1975 I went with Dr. Hilda Vidal to the excavation in
t he Rimac s ection of Lima.

Rimac is the oldest part of Lima where there

were other huacas in the area.

The site was on the grounds of a sporting

club and the gravesites were found while digging for a new building.

17
Though it had been excavated by the national team of archeologists, Dr.
Vidal was conducting the last diggings while the rest of the team moved
to Puno to start a new project.

She had been working in three tombs

where only bones and ceramics, but no textiles had been found.
them were the bones of a child, approximately two years of age.
skeleton and all the others had had the heads cut off.

Among
1hat

Dr. Vidal found

an adult near the small skeleton and another worker found an adult human
pelvis on the site.

The people buried in these graves were certainly

not rich or important, but it is theorized that they were punished and
buried there.

Around the site were other places of interest.

looked like a depository of pottery.

for water.

One room

There also appeared to be aqueducts

Even though this dig had no textiles, it was a valuable ex-

perience for me to visit the site and to see how the work of removing
and cataloguing the bones, rocks and ceramics is accomplished.
Other museums in Lima
In Lima I was able to visit several other museums with textile collections.
collection.

They varied in size, emphasis and care in handling of the

The most impressive and educational private museum was the

Amano Museum, a private collection which is open to the public.

Because

of my acquaintance with some Japanese people in Lima I was able to learn

about the history of the collection.

Mr. Amano had a fishing company

north of Lima near the ruins of the Chancay gravesites.

Over a period

of many years he has slowly assembled a collection of predominantly

Chancay culture artifacts.

The textile collection was the best that I

18

saw in Lima.
The textiles in his museum were kept in a properly controlled atmosphere where they were all very carefully mounted and stored.

All visitors

were taken by a guide who explained the items on display and opened
drawers to show other textiles being stored.

Here I saw many kinds of

textiles about which I had read but had not seen including a shaped bag
technique described by Junius Bird (1), delicate lace weaves, cloth munmy
dolls, weaving samplers and weft scaffolding.

Because of my previous

study I thoroughly enjoyed the textile room which was

treasure house

of primary sources.
The Larco Herrara Museum has an especially large collection of
huacos, primarily from the Mochica culture.

Mr. Larco was a large land-

owner in the northern part of Peru where the Mochica once thrived and
most of the artifacts in the museum were found on his land.
the artifacts in a museum and opened it to the public.

He, too, put

1he textiles in

this museum were not particularly well cared for because there was no
humidity control.

I was especially fascinated by the mummies and the ob-

jects found in the tombs such as cloth dolls, spindles, yarn and baskets.
The huacos portrayed many humans depicting the type of clothing worn.
The National Museum of Peruvian Culture is near the center of Lima.
Especially impressive was a display of carved gourds and an overview of
designs used on them.
the jungle regions.

There was also a good display of folk craft from

Among the textiles were black and white striped

ponchos which had delicately painted lines in the white areas.

The rest

of the museum contained a combination of current folk craft and a few

19
pre-Columbian artifacts including costumes, paintings and textiles.
The Gold Museum is another private collection which had been opened
to the public.
astounding.
textiles.

The number and the variety of items made of gold was

Several examples showed gold and silver used as a part of

One of these was a headdress made for the top of a mununy bundle.

There was considerable jewelry made of gold and precious stones.

Historic sites
While I stayed in Lima I visited two historic sites, Pachacamac and
Paracas.

Pachacamac is the site of the remains of a temple to the sun

and what appeared to have been a religious community.

built on a very high point overlooking the ocean.
was the home of the Mamakuna.
temple rituals.

The temple was

One interesting section

The Mamakuna were the virgins used for the

Sometimes they were sacrificed, but their usual task was

to spin and weave textiles for official use in their quarters which were
near a large open terrace facing the baths and the woods.

A small museum

on the grounds housed the artifacts found in the ixm:nediate area.

textiles were numerous and in good condition (Slide 6).

The

One of the most

interesting objects was a tiny backstrap loom on which a piece of pattern double weave had been woven.

There was also a large plain weave

textile to which large shells had been sewn.

It was thought to have been

used on the temple door.

In late July I visited the Paracas gravesites.

Since I had read so

much about Paracas I was determined to see it for myself.

One of my

friends decided to drive me to the location near a small bay.

I did not

20

realize how desolate the area would be.

'Ihe small museum was surrounded

by sand, rocks and shells, but mostly sand.

'Ihe building was being re-

modeled so that we could not enter it, but we did walk around the gravesites.

It was exciting to discover the small textile fragments in the

sand (Slide 7).

'Ihe area was covered with sand because there was not

enough money to guard it or to preserve the open graves.

For me it was

a fabulous experience at least to see the area in which the exquisite

textiles were found.
Textiles in conunerce
In Lima I was fortunate to know a woman working in the Ministry of
Industry and Tourism.

Magdalena de Monzarz had been with the folk craft

division for several years although she is presently working with the
textile industries.

She introduced me to Mr. Pedro Rojas who is the

director of the artisan division of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

He works with the people who produce folk craft.

He was attempting to do

a survey of handmade folk craft in Peru and since it was International

Women's Year he was especially interested in women's role in folk craft
production.

'Ihe weavers I met at a later time in the villages were

familiar with Mr. Rojas and I sensed the solid relationship he had established with them.

Ms. de Monzarz also arranged an appointment with James W. Plunkett,

Director and Manager of Exportadores del Inca S. A.
primarily an exporter of Peruvian folk craft.

Mr. Plunkett is

While I was visiting him

his goods, ready for export, were being inspected by the Ministry of

21
Industry before being taken to the dock.
leaves the country.
carved gourds.

1he government controls what

Of the items he exports, most are textiles and

He has worked to establish a good relationship with the

craftsmen in the provinces.

1hey ship him goods by bus and he sends the

payment to their banks.

He sells his goods primarily to boutiques and wholesalers in the
United States and Europe.

1he recession in these countries has deeply

affected the hand production of textiles in Peru.

ment stores have cut back on luxury items.

Many shops and depart-

He said that most weavers

could sell all that they made in the past, but sales have recently decreased.

He has had to cut his stockpile of textiles and only gives the

weavers special orders.

Mr. Plunkett feels that handmade items, includ-

ing textiles, have always been regarded as something for the tourists.
1he general feeling is that the Indians have made them therefore such
articles are considered inferior.

1he upper-class in Peru wants goods

from abroad but when the wealthy Peruvians go abroad they see foreigners
wearing Peruvian ponchos, sweaters and caps.
Exporters like Mr. Plunkett are trying to help make handwoven items
easier to sell at home and abroad.

1hey sometimes advise craftsmen.

Mr. Plunkett has tried to get the knitters to use only 100% alpaca, but
he found that the addition of 20% polyester helped the garments to hold
shape and the dyes were more permanent.

He showed me some large wall

hangings with realistic scenes which were priced at about $500.00.

He

believed that if weavers were willing to put so much time and effort
into a large piece that it should be well-designed in order to have a

22
chance of being sold (Lima, June 9, 1975).
On June 11, 1975 I spoke with Mr. Roberto Vizurraga, manager and advisor of the Cooperativa Artesanos de Puno, a cooperative that has been
in existence for three years in the city of Puno.

In the beginning it

was organized as a child care center aided by CARE and the Catholic
Church.

Later the community decided to make it a business to produce and

sell hand-crafted scarves, sweaters, gloves, caps and various other knit
items.

The Ministry of Education has become involved and provides a

teacher.

Two banks provide loans to buy materials and to pay the workers

for their labor until the products are sold.

Mr. Vizurraga was impressed

because the people saw a need and organized themselves.

They have hired

experts to train themselves to create products of good quality that will

sell and are trying to maximize all the resources, both human and material.

They evaluate each other's work before it is sold.

The markets

abroad do influence what the people make and the taste of the customers
guide the production.

The cooperative sells to the United States, Italy,

France and West Germany.

He prefers to sell to wholesalers for boutiques

because he feels that to sell to a department store lowers the esteem

of handmade items.
I met Bernardo Luck, exporter and owner of a quality folk craft
shop.

He has established a good reputation with the crafts people.

Mr.

Luck primarily carries textiles in his shop with a wide variety available.
Some very special pieces were jungle textiles.

When I spoke with him

he explained that he did not really like some of the textiles because
of the low quality of design and craftsmanship.

He carried them;

23
however, because the price was lower therefore more of them would sell.
His favorite textiles came from San Pedro de Cajas.

'!hey were more

expensive, but were technically better and had more interesting designs.
Some of the designs are based on Picasso paintings.

Mr. Luck has an

art gallery near his shop where he exhibits folk art from all parts of
Peru.

He is one of the people in Lima who is seriously trying to main-

tain respect for the crafts in Peru and takes an active role in that
concern (Lima, July 23, 1975).
Use of textiles in Lima
While in Lima I attempted to seek evidence of continued interest in
handwoven textiles today.

I visited some public buildings and shops to

see the extent to which textiles were used.

One of the most impressive

modern structures decorated with quality textiles was the Lima Sheraton
Hotel.

In the lobby there were many large woven wall coverings from the

village of San Pedro de Cajas.

Although they appeared to be woven using

the tapestry technique, the weave used was a secret known only to the
weavers.

The motifs were inspired from ancient textiles.

hanging showed a view of Machu Picchu.

One very large

The commission by the Lima

Sheraton Hotel provided work for the village of weavers and created a new
interest in textiles for the people of Lima.
Textiles, both handmade and machine-made, were for sale in shops
throughout the city.

One had to have a discerning eye to find a quality

item in some places.

All textiles were presented as handmade because

they knew that was what tourists desired.

Motifs from pre-Columbian textiles were used in printed fabrics

24

by the firm Silvania Prints.

The woman who began this business has

based her designs on historic motifs yet creates contemporary fabrics

by use of different colors and arrangements.

The textiles and garments

made from the fabrics were expensive so that tourists and foreign residents were the main clients.
In discussions with my host family and from my own observations I
have concluded that there has been an increased interest in textiles
making use of pre-Columbian motifs.
for the tourists.

In the past such garments were only

Natives have begun placing handwoven wall hangings

in their homes and offices.

Moths present a problem with wool textiles

in Lima because they thrive in the humid climate.

Nothing was free from

their damage except a polyester blend with wool or alpaca.

The introduc-

tion of these blends has helped make wool and its products practical for
those people.
Huancayo and the Mantaro Valley
After becoming familiar with the textiles seen in Lima I traveled
to Huancayo to observe the contemporary weaving done in the villages.
I was very fortunate to have Francisca Mayer of Huancayo as a resource
person as well as an advisor in this undertaking.

I stayed with Ms. Mayer

for three weeks to study her workshop, the weavers in the area and the
famous feria of Huancayo.
Taller

f.

Mayer

The Taller (workshop) F. Mayer is located in a section of Huancayo

called Barrio San Carlos which has dirt and stone streets.

When I

25
arrived at the street, Hiron Brasilia, there was the sign for her workshop and turning the corner I came upon a typical mud wall surrounding
the house and yard.
world.

Once I had entered the gate I felt I was in another

There was a neatly kept, but vast vegetable garden, a quaint

German-style house and a modern brightly lit workshop.

This was one of

the neatest, best organized workshops I had seen (Slide 8).

Francisca Mayer has been in Peru since the late 1940s.
trained her first native Peruvian worker to weave.

In 1950 she

Since that time she

has trained workers and built the weaving workshop until by the swmner
1975 she was employing seventeen women.

In addition to the workshop

there was a museum, storeroom and salesroom.

Ms. Mayer was one of the

first persons in Peru to draw upon pre-Columbian techniques and motifs

for contemporary textiles.

At the outset the weavers wove many samples

of techniques and kept records of ones suitable for specific products.

As a result the workshop now has developed a reputation in Peru and
abroad for the fine quality products.
Functional textiles such as table cloths, napkins, towels, garments
and ties are specialties of the Mayer workshop.

The pre-Columbian motifs

including the cat, the bird and the fish are gt=nerally woven in the laidin technique but the weavers are also constantly experimenting.

Those

with special artistic talent are encouraged to weave wall hangings using
new techniques and designs (Slide 9).
Adjoining the workshop is a small room where the products are displayed for sale.

There is a museum above the storeroom where many tex-

tiles are exhibited.

Ms. Mayer has an extensive personal collection of

26
textiles dating from pre-Columbian Peru to the present which are kept in
the museum.
work.

The weavers often use them as inspiration for their own

She encourages them to duplicate ancient techniques as an exercise

in order for them to understand the ancient fabrics and processes~

Ms. Mayer's success as an owner and director of a weaving workshop
she attributes in part to keeping the clock and keeping the books.
women work from 8:00 a.m. to noon and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The
Since

they are paid by the piece the more they weave the more money they can
earn.

Some wcmen who are not trained as weavers or are unable to weave

do jobs such as sewing, winding the warps, finishing pieces and ironing.
Almost all wcmen who join the workshop begin working at those jobs and
advance to weaving when there is an opening.
At the workshop I was able to make many observations and to learn
techniques.

The first day I learned how to pick and to spin alpaca.

Teodora, one of the workers, was my teacher who showed me all the steps
in the process.

Teodora expertly picked the wool and arranged the fleece

in coil shapes ready to be stored.

She wound the fleece around the

callapa to hold it in place while spinning (Slide 10).

The spindle in

Hyancayo consisted simply of a long stick with a weight at the bottom.

Teodora and other spinners in the area always spun with a Z-twist and
were unhappy if I chose to spin an S-twist.

While spinning the alpaca

we had picked together I could easily see which was my picking and which
Teodora had prepared.
I spent several days learning to prepare natural dyes and to dye
yarn.

The art of natural dyeing is virtually dead in Peru because of

27

the prevalent use of aniline dyes.

An English woman, Barbara Mullins,

has helped preserve what is now known about the natural dyes of Peru and
has taught weavers near Huancayo how to use them.

In collaboration with

Ms. Mayer she wrote the book Recetas de Tintes Naturales (12).

This

book, used in teaching weavers about natural dyes, was a reference when
we prepared the dyes.

Some weavers in the area are continuing to use the

dyes which they had learned to make.

They have found a good market for

their work and are pleased with the results.

The first day of dyeing I observed and assisted Beatriz Arroyo Aquino
and Livia Miguel Perez who were in charge of dyeing warp yarns for ties
and some weft yarns for Beatriz's wall hanging (Slide 9).
use walnut tree bark, cochineal and indigo.

They were to

We prepared walnut tree bark

by pounding it into small pieces with rocks before soaking it.

Beatriz

ground the cochineal into a fine powder but the indigo was already prepared.

Rather than using the liquor the yarn was put in with the wal-

nut bark.

All the yarn that we dyed had been mordanted with alum.

followed the entire process:

weighing the dye stuff, weighing the yarn,

simmering the dye and washing and rinsing the yarn.

All the yarns were

simmered for one hour over a wood stove (Slide 11).

I was able to contribute a new method to the dyeing process.

As I

prepared yarns for the walnut due bath I decided to bind some skeins for
weft ikat.

I prepared enough skeins for Livia to use in her ties.

There

were also some tie-dyed woolen textiles which needed to be brightened.

I set out to fold and tie those shawls and scarves for tie-dyeing.

In

preparing the ikat yarns and the tie-dyed cloths I was careful to show

28

Livia how I did them so that she could carry out the process again.

was pleased to see the results and to have them prepared for sale in the
shop.

Later I was able to prepare my own dyes using lichens and tree

bark.
Ille workshop had more than one purpose for its existence.
has a great social as well as an artistic concern.

Ms. Mayer

She provides educa-

tional experiences for the children of her workers by establishing a

kindergarten.

A teacher came every morning to teach these children as

well as others from the neighborhood.

Tilis served as a babysitting ser-

vice too because the children had toys, space and playground equipment
to occupy them while their mothers worked.
cribs for the babies.

Inside the workshop there were

Ms. Mayer also gave counsel to the women having

problems and considers the social aspect as important as the business.

She found it a satisfying way to serve society while using her knowledge
of weaving.
During the time I stayed at the Mayer house I was fortunate to share
hours of conversation with Ms. Mayer.

From her rich and intense interest

in weaving and other crafts I was able to learn much about the conditions of the textile arts in Peru.

For the past twenty-five years she

has been living and working with people concerned with the preservation
of the Peruvian arts.

Fran these conversations I was made more aware of

the rich heritage and what some individuals were doing to preserve it.
Fran Ms. Mayer I learned that the word artesania was not reserved for
the handmade items.

Tilerefore, when people saw this label they mistakenly

assumed that it was handmade when it may not have been.

Ille Mayer

29
workshop has been hurt by the lack of honest interpretation of that word.
Because handmade items were more costly customers preferred to purchase
the less expensive machine-made textiles.

She felt that some legisla-

tion was necessary because there was too much ambiguity surrounding the
word artesania, but it was important to the consumer, especially the
foreigners.

Ms. Mayer was very concerned about government protection

for the craftsmen.

lhose who were conscientious and kept books were

heavily taxed while those who operated secretly did not pay taxes and
there was no protection for them.

She felt the need for some special

laws to promote craftsmen and help them maintain their work without treating them as an industry.
Familiar with crafts people throughout Peru, Ms. Mayer was able to
inform me of projects which had been developed to promote the crafts
as a steady form of income for the highland villagers.

lhe Peace Corps

had begun some projects with crafts and succeeded to some extent.

Most

of the Peace Corps volunteers came with little or no artistic or organizational background and when a project was progressing well the volunteers
were often replaced by people who were not familiar with the work to be
done.

However, the awareness created in a village several years before

might result in a feasible connnunity effort at a later time.

For ex-

ample, the work done in Hualhuas several years ago had finally taken
root in 1975.

Ms. Mayer indicated that not all of the work was positive.

In the city of Ayacucho Peace Corps workers, insensitive to the rich

weaving tradition, designed patterns which the weavers were to duplicate
for export and for sales to tourists.

These textiles may have been

30

popular but the quality of design and craftsmanship was poor.

lhey were

able to sell more of these textiles because the price was lower, but at
the same time the products were not a fair representation of what the
weavers could really do.
lhere is a growing number of Peruvians working hard to preserve the
life of the crafts in their country.

lhe exporters I mentioned earlier

are involved in this movement as is John Davis, Director of the Art Center (Institute Centro de Arte) in Lima.

He and his wife, Isabel, have

been promoting the use and the production of folk crafts.

At the Art

Center they sponsor classes in the arts and have exhibitions of art.
lhey also have a folk craft shop with quality items from all parts of
Peru.

lhere are many more people involved than I can mention here who

have formed a network of concern across the country.

It was exciting to

hear about their interests and how they have helped to keep folk craft
alive.
Ms. Mayer stated that recently they have begun protecting preColumbian textiles in Peru.
loguing all those fabrics.

lhe govermnent is in the process of catalhe law requires that all private collections

must be inspected by govermnent workers.

For each piec e catalogued

there is a charge of approximately fifty cents.

lhe govermnent numbers

each textile for a complete record and forbids its exportation.

It

is illegal to dig at gravesites, to sell illegally acquired textiles or

to have them in possession (From conversations with Francisca Mayer,
Huancayo, June 29 - July 15, 1975).
lhrough Ms. Mayer, who is known to weavers throughout the Mantaro

31

Valley, I was able to visit several village craftsmen.

With her intro-

duction, a map and my dictionary I made my way to several villages near

Huancayo.

Transportation to the villages was frequent, but not regu-

larly scheduled.

I had learned by that time how to wait yet how to get

back before the sun set.

Although my Spanish was poor and I was a bit

scared, I took my first trip to Huayucachi to visit a weaver I had met

in the market.
Huayucachi
On July 3, 1975 I found my way to the bus stop and boarded the old
creaking bus to Huayucachi.

I was pushed into the bus along with the

women in full skirts, the animals and the sacks full of dried corn.

1be

bus went no further than my destination so I easily found the house of

Fortunato Urcu Huaranca, a backstrap weaver.

I was sure that he was a

little surprised when I kept my appointment, but once I arrived he was

more than generous with his time and showed me his work.

I was fasci-

nated by this young energetic man who is revolutionizing the weaving

process in his own home.
He has developed two mechanical devices which allow him to weave
more quickly.

His first invention was designed to respin the commercial

yarn in order to increase the tightness of the twist.

This respinning

process is done by most craftsmen with a hand spindle.

The machine was

made with bicycle wheels and ran on a kerosene engine.

His wife operated

the machine which could retwist two spools at once.

The other inven-

tion was used to increase the speed of warping the yarn to be used on
his backstrap loom.

COtm11only two stakes are placed in the ground at a

32
distance which equals the desired length of the warp.

Two people sit

on the ground behind each stake and roll a ball of yarn back and forth
to each other to make the warp.
complete the warping.

This process takes two persons a day to

With his system Mr. Urcu Huaranca could prepare

enough warp for two mantas in one day.

While he has lost the social

aspect of sharing that task with another person, he has faced the reality
that faster production will bring greater income.
I was further delighted when he took me upstairs to his work room.
There with his loom attached to the ceiling he began the weaving process.
For the first time I witnessed the great skill and strength that is required to weave on that kind of loom.

With speed and dexterity he manipu-

lated the heddles, swords and warp yarns to weave the traditional gusano
pattern.

It was a warp-faced wool fabric with colorful stripes.

The

weft was a very fine cotton which was barely seen at the selvedges (Slide
12).

After the demonstration he told that it took nearly two weeks to

weave the manta.

It was woven in one long piece, cut in two and sewn

together at the selvedges.

piece.

He hopes to receive $40.00 for the finished

His wife weaves belts on a narrower loom.

She can weave a belt

in about four days for which she receives $10.00 .

..._! later found from visiting other weavers1;\that the income they re-

ceived from their production of textiles is only supplemental.

weavers have a farm or a small shop.

Most

Weaving is done when the crops are

in and while they are tending the shops.

It is not a full-time profes-

sion for most persons which is similar to textile production in the Inca
culture.

In the Inca state every housewife wove the needed cloth for her

33
family, however, there were specially trained weavers who produced the
elaborate textiles.

niese specialists included both male weavers and

young women who were taken from their families at an early age and trained
to produce cloth.

In contrast to the weavers in Peru today these people

were provided for by the communal state in return for their skilled
labor (13).
Each village has a specialty in the crafts and Huayucachi is no exception.

It is most famous for its embroiderers.

the parents of a worker in the Mayer Workshop.

I was able to visit

lbeir embroideries are

famous in Peru and are represented in private collections in the United

States.

One such collection has been incorporated in the decor of La

Fonda del Sol designed by Alexander Girard, architect and interior designer.

He personally selected embroideries done by Santa Cruz Capacyachi

and his wife.

'nley have been making embroidered costumes for local festi-

vals for over fifty years (Slide 13).

lbe older embroideries were done

with metallic threads on velvet cloth.

Since they can no longer buy

velvet, the new costumes are made primarily from synthetic fabrics.

Die

designs of the embroideries range from delicate floral patterns to

patriotic scenes to tigers in the forest.

Since the costumes they make

are too expensive for villagers to purchase, celebrants rent them each
year for the appropriate festivals.
Vigues
Later that day I found a colectivo to take me to Viques, the village
famous for intricately woven belts.

I was always amazed to find such

34

beautiful textiles being woven behind mud walls.

In Viques the women

weave the narrow belts for daily use and for festivals.

The belts are

all wool and warp-faced with stylized motifs particular to the village.
I was able to visit Blanca Huaman de Laureano.

Though she and her mother

were not weaving when I arrived because they were still harvesting the
crops she did show me her latest belt woven in February 1975 (Slide 14).
It was made of commercial yarn that had been retwisted.

The motifs she

used included a train, ducks, peacocks, the river, a lion, the seal of
Peru and a boat.

I was interested to see how she used the ancient tech-

niques to create a contemporary textile.

However, it was a little sad

to learn that she could not weave another belt until she sold the one
she showed me because she had no money to buy yarn.

After I bought it

from her I wondered how long it would be before she could sell the next
one.

That day was the beginning of many fascinating experiences to come.

I began to learn the human side of the superb textiles which were sold
in the villages and resold abroad.

As popular as the handwoven Peru-

vian textiles are, I was able to see that the weavers still live in
poverty.

What amazed me was that they still produce colorful, gayly

patterned pieces for others to enjoy.

They live on a subsistence level

and yet the people I met extended a welcome to me and helped me with my
research.

Their strength and kindness was a true inspiration to me.

Hualhuas
A stay in Huancayo would not be complete without a visit to
Hualhuas.

It is easily reached from Huancayo, therefore the influx of

travelers had caused the village to cater to the tourist.

For this

35

reason the weavers here are famous and quite productive.

lhey are best

known for their alpaca blankets and rugs of natural colors woven on two
or four harness foot looms (Slide 15).

Unfortunately many poorly designed

textiles are woven for the tourists and for export.

helped the village to prosper.
mentation taking place.

Yet this demand has

Even in Hualhuas there is some experi-

Two weavers I visited had studied vegetable dye-

ing with Francisca Mayer and Barbara Mullins and had begun to use these
dyes in their work.

Oscar Salome was weaving a tapestry on his blue loom

when I arrived at his shop (Slide 16).

lhe loom was in the open court-

yard and was covered with a huge piece of plastic.

Beside him his wife

was spinning the white alpaca which he later dyed (Slide 17).

He was

very proud of his mastery of the natural colors and told me the source
of each color.

In the spring of 1975 he had sold many of his textiles

at the La Molina Fair in Lima.

From that exposure he had become known

and when I visited him he was preparing weavings for an exhibition.

As

a customer entered the dark unlit shop Oscar jumped up from his loom to
serve the man (July 1, 1975).
Eleodora Medina also uses natural dyes to weave large tapestries
(Slide 18).

Her best designs are geometric as she balances the gayly

colored sheep's wool with the natural shades of alpaca.

She spins all

of her own yarn sometimes using the spinning wheel, but she believes
that yarn spun on a spindle is essential for a warp.

Having woven for

many years Eleodora has established her reputation so she has regular
customers.

She knows how to succeed and has definite opinions about her

profession.

Her entire family helps in the preparation of the yarn for

36
weaving though only she weaves.

Most of her work is for commissions.

She never sells through a middleman.

Her prices are comparatively high,

but yet her work is in great demand.

A sign of her wealth is her ability

to send her daughters to school in Lima; therefore they are not continuing the tradition of fine weaving which their mother has begun (July 11,
1975).
In Hualhuas there are many people weaving yardage combining cotton
warp and alpaca weft which they make into jackets and vests.

They sell

the ready-made garments in the market and take orders for tailor-made
items too.

One man weaves brightly colored tapestries which present

flat colored designs reminiscent of Matisse (Slide 19).

All these people

appear to be good businessmen and I was impressed with their enterprising natures.

I encountered a man who was having difficulty with the ex-

portation of his products.

in New York City.

He had several angry letters from an importer

The letters, written in English, expressed how upset

the business woman was that the rugs which she had ordered had not
arrived.

The weaver refused to send the rugs because the exporter in

Lima would not pay him even after he had delivered the goods.
quently he returned home with the textiles.

Conse-

Many weavers were taking a

great loss and this man said that he wanted to stop exporting because of
the risk (Nicolas Rojas Caceres, weaver, Hualhuas, July 7, 1975).
The other weavers I met in Hualhuas were not doing such unusual work,
but I enjoyed my visits with them because I could see many phases of the
weaving process .

People seemed to weave in almost every home and I

simply knocked on gates to gain entrance.

Many were disappointed because

37
I was only looking; some were even unkind and asked me to leave.

Most

people asked for money before I took pictures and I became very familiar
with the request for a propina.
activities of weaving.

I found the village to be alive with all

Women were walking down the street while spinning,

yarn was hanging on the clothesline and the sound of the looms was heard
from the streets.

As a handweaver from a highly industrialized nation

I was very impressed by the prevalence of hand weaving in Peru.

a real part of village life.

It was

Although Hualhuas appeared to be very tour-

ist oriented I later realized that it was easier to meet weavers there
because they were not afraid of strangers.
Cochas Chico
The next village I visited was Cochas Chico.

With a friend I got

on the bus which took us away from Huancayo toward the Sierras to the east.
Cochas Chico is built on a higher elevation.

We got off the bus at the

wrong stop and so we walked the rest of the way.

people along the way.

We met interesting

A man was chewing his coca leaves, the young

children were chasing the chickens and several men with metal buckets and
huge bundles of sheep's wool were waiting for a truck which would take
them to the jungle on the other side of the mountains to sell their produce.
We finally reached the village which sits at the bottom of the
steep hill.

This village is most famous for the gourd carvers who live

there and signs outside the houses advertise the gourds which are for
sale.

We encountered an elderly man who took us to his son's home.

The

38

son, whose name I had heard in Lima, is one of the most famous gourd
carvers of Peru.

Pedro Veli was very kind as he showed us his work area

and the huge sacks of his work.

were the most intricate.

The entire family carved gourds but his

There were two groups of carved gourds.

I was

amused when he showed the gourds intended for export to the United States.
Though these gourds were less expensive they were of poorer quality.

Then

he led us to the smaller sack of gourds carved in great detail and of

superb quality.

He said that those were for people who appreciated art

(Cochas Chico, July 8, 1975).

same attitude.

Other artists we visited had much the

Some people in the village had become rich because of the

popularity of the carved gourds.

The rich folks had moved to the foot

of the hills where they lived in painted houses with glass windows.

The

less fortunate, usually weavers, still lived in the hillside in the mud
houses.

These people lived in a more natural setting without the un-

necessary complications of wealth.

I was able to visit a friend of the Mayer family who lived in the
hillside.

Teodora Canturin de Vasquez, already an expert spinner, was

learning to carve gourds.

The entire Vasquez family was involved in some

sort of craft production.

While they had a small farm to support them,

they also produced carved gourds and mantas to sell in the market.
spent hours working at their crafts in large groups.
would come to join them as they worked.

They

Often relatives

Her husband, Juan, and his

father, Esteban, were both weavers using the backstrap loom.

The day I

spent with them was one of the most wonderful experiences I had.

Juan

was not weaving at that time because he had just returned from harvesting

39
and storing the crops.

Esteban did have his loom assembled in his house

so we walked there to see it.

Esteban was fascinated with my camera.

He

had never had his photograph taken so I had the pleasure of taking photographs of the whole family.

In return they were most generous to me and

gave me much useful information.

Esteban demonstrated the use of his

backstrap loom which was fastened to the ceiling of a covered portion of

the courtyard (Slide 20).

He was weaving a manta with the gusano pattern.

Esteban was quite old consequently he had difficulty concentrating for

long periods of time.

I am sure that it took him many days to complete

the work.
Juan Vasquez had learned weaving from his father who also uses connnercial yarns for his mantas.

He bought c011DI1ercially-dyed yarns or he dyed

the white yarns with aniline dyes.

before weaving.
manta.

Teodora respun the c011DI1ercial yarn

Juan stated that it required 650 grams of wool for one

Teodora could have spun the wool from the fiber, but Juan pre-

ferred the conunercial respun yarn.

I learned later that it is a sign of

wealth to weave with c011DI1ercial yarn.

Handspun yarn meant that the

weaver had no money with which to buy yarn.

Juan's mother was spinning sheep's wool to be taken to the foot
loom man.

He would weave the yardage which in turn would be dyed and made

into skirts.

After the skirts were sewn they would be trinnned with

embroidery around the hem.

the weaving process.

Often the yarn was never washed throughout

This was really village assembly-line production

c011DI1on to most c011DI1unities in this area.

fabrics to be worn by the spinners.

The foot loom man produced

40

Before we returned to the bus, Teodora took us to visit a cooperative

in the village.
room.

lhere we saw women weaving on foot looms in a windowless

lhe work was of poor quality compar ed with the weaving which I

had seen done in the homes.

It was sad to see what this effort is doing

to an ancient tradition of excellence.

As a parting gift Teodora gave

me her spindle and some alpaca yarn she was spinning (Slide 21).
a touching expression of friendship.

It was

lhe weight on the spindle was a

small potato though I had thought it was a stone until I realized it was
rotting.

From the bus window while returning to Huancayo I had my first

close look at a herd of llamas.

lhey were all carrying on their backs

loads which were in woven sacks.

In an attempt to learn more about the hand crafts in the Mantaro

Valley I traveled to the village of Aco, which means mud in Quechua.
is famous for ceramics but there are no weavers in the village.

Aco

lhe car

in which I was riding seemed to go on and on into treeless, brown country.

Occasionally I could see foot paths leaving the road leading toward unseen destinations.

We continued to an even higher elevation where only

the eucalyptus trees grew by the river.

When we reached the village I

was in a plaza rapidly filling with people.

There were tents by the

street and there was a festive feeling in the air.

was treated to another sight.

From the plaza I

Looking to the Sierras in the east I could

see the magnificent snowcapped peaks behind the foothills.

Aco is an Indian town where the people had a much more relaxed

41
attitude toward me.

1bey spoke primarily in Quechua.

When my Spanish

was poor they only laughed because they did not speak Spanish well either.
I had learned enough Quechua words to be accepted by them.
met in the plaza invited me into their homes.

1be women I

No one was making ceramics

that day because of the festival, but they showed me their tools, the
kiln and some of their pots in use.

Since there was no weaver in Aco,

they had recently traded some potatoes for woven potato sacks with people
from the high altitudes where potatoes cannot grow.

1bese sacks are

woven on the backstrap loom from handspun alpaca using a wide range of
natural colors.

1be weavers from the altitudes compete with each other

to see who can create the most complicated pattern.

1be people in Aco

used the sacks to carry potatoes and dried corn on the backs of the
burros and the llamas.

After viewing the ceramic workshops we headed

back to the festival.

1bis was the last day of the festival which had been in progress
for eight days.
were drunk.

By this time the people were tired and many of the men

It was fascinating to see women arriving at the plaza in

their best clothing.

1bey wore brightly colored full skirts, light

blouses and darker pullos or mantas.

1beir hats were white and black in

the style of Huancayo (Slide 22).

'IWo orchestras played and the dancers

wound their way around the plaza.

Although I could not see any weaving

or ceramics being made it was an unforgettable experience to see the

festival in Aco.

42

La Feria de Huancayo
Every Sunday brings a crowd of people to Huancayo.

People come

from Lima and many foreign tourists are there to go to the famous feria.
This open market is known in all parts of Peru and well-attended by the
local people as well as tourists.
two rows of stalls on either side.

It seemed to stretch over a mile with

I was able to visit it on three

Sundays so that I became familiar with the market and what people brought
to sell.
One Sunday morning a group of us left for the market at 7:00 a.m.
hoping to see the people arriving and wishing to get a first chance to
look at the items for sale.
breath in the air.

The morning was so cold we could see our

The sun had not yet risen from behind the mountains.

We looked around and huddled together.

Very few people were there when

we arrived, a real contrast to a few hours later when the street was
januned with folk.

I met many of the weavers from Hualhuas.

to see a familiar face in such a huge crowd.

It was good

Handwoven textiles were

sold primarily in a section for tourists (Slide 23).

There were avail-

able textiles of all types and qualities; however, I had to look very
carefully to find the textiles of good quality.

I was searching for a

poncho made with alpaca in both warp and weft.

That proved difficult to

find because most ponchos had cotton warp.

I learned later that cotton

warp was valued more because it must be purchased and because it did not
stretch.

I finally did find one at a reasonable price.

It was my first

experience in bargaining and I was relieved when it was over.

The local people shopped mainly around the stalls that sold

43

functional items such as clothing, pots and pans, food and tools.

In

those areas I could see some of the beautiful handwoven clothing being
worn.

It appeared that the finely woven textiles are kept for use by

the weavers themselves or sold to their neighbors.

The textiles I saw

in the villages are rarely for sale in the market.

The weavers cannot

afford to keep a stockpile of weaving on hand because they need to sell

one textile to buy yarn for the next.
At the very end of the market there were people selling fleeces of
sheep and alpaca.

The fleeces were sold by the pound, according to the

color and the grade.

Some weavers I met in Hualhuas said that they

bought their alpaca in this market.

Alpaca cannot live in Huancayo even

though it has an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Instead the alpaca live in

the higher altitudes and their fleeces are brought from there to be sold.
The feria in Huancayo is an experience all its own.

There one can

see a cross section of the connnercial life of a mountain city.

It is

also a social event where friends meet and have fun together.

It pro-

vides an excellent array of textiles of every kind either for sale or

worn by the local people.
Southern Peru
Cuzco
At the end of July I traveled to Cuzco, the old capitol of the
Incas.

It is a picturesque city combining the ancient walls of the

Incas with the Spanish architecture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

While Cuzco is an important historic center it was not easy to

44
find information about textiles.

Because I had no contacts I was left

to search for weavers on my own.

My research here is based on observa-

tions of the markets, a visit to Chincero and from stories told by the
Peruvians.
Before I arrived in Cuzco I had seen both pre-Columbian textiles
and those produced today in that region.

'llle contemporary ones are some

of the most intricate and most colorful textiles I saw in all of Peru.
I was told by many people that the finest textiles were woven by Indians
living in the high altitudes.

'llley have maintained the fine tradition

of weaving isolating themselves from outsiders.

Few outsiders, Peruvians

or foreigners, make the effort to reach the distant villages which may
require several days journey on a mule.

In her article, "'llle Cloth of

the Quechuas," Grace Goodell describes such a search into the mountains
of Bolivia where she found exquisite textiles rarely seen elsewhere (8).
After visiting several historic sites near Cuzco I set out to
search the markets for information.

Each time I returned I observed

more and talked with some of the people.

I noted the textiles being

sold but more than that I was impressed with how different Cuzco was
from Huancayo.

Although Huancayo had seemed full of tourists Cuzco was

even more crowded with them.

'llle shopkeepers in the market had learned

to be shrewd and had set prices high.

It was fascinating to eavesdrop on

the conversations between the shopkeepers and the tourists now that my
Spanish was much improved.

'llle unknowing tourist often paid dearly for

something of poor quality.

I was able to find some quality textiles and

I learned where they were woven.

However, the people selling textiles

45

in the major market in Cuzco were not the weavers and when I asked about
the textiles they seemed to know little concerning them.
In the marketplace textiles were the principal tourist item.

There

were ponchos, pullos, sweaters, mantas, belts, bags, rugs and blankets.
Textiles were sold not only at this market, but at every ruin near the
city.

The shopkeepers tried to impress me with how old the textiles were.

Many of them were obviously faded and old looking (Slide 24).

Knowing

how precious the ancient textiles had become I found it difficult to believe that so many old textiles would be for sale.
hotel assured me that indeed they were not old.

The clerk at my

He explained that they

wash five- or ten-year-old ponchos in strong detergents then dry them

in the sun for five days or more to cause the dyes to bleed or fade in
order that they will appear to be old treasures.
As I passed one shop near the market I looked inside and saw a
basket filled with spindles.

I was quite delighted to find the shop

which was full from floor to ceiling with baskets of all varieties.

The

spindles were of two sizes, one for spinning and the larger one for retwisting the conunercial yarn.

Because I

~as

interested in the spindles

I was able to start a conversation with the women.

I enjoyed just sitting in a cafe or in a park where I could observe
the handwoven textiles worn by the Indians.

It was enlightening to see

the Indian men in their ponchos, handknit chullos under their hats with
woven belts and bags.

Their clothing appeared old and well-worn.

Their

faces reflected timeless expressions caused by hard work and their

ability to survive.

The women wore full skirts, jackets or blouses, hats

46
and pullos.

The hats worn by the women had wide brims and high crowns.

Most men's and women's costumes were red and black.

In Cuzco the museums had few textiles .

I recalled I was told at

the University Archeological Museum (Cuzco, August 1, 1975) that the

Spanish had destroyed most of the pre-Columbian textiles when they conquered Cuzco.

That muselll!l had a few fragments of textiles.

I found the

transition textiles woven after the Spanish invasion especially interesting.

They appeared to have been woven on backstrap looms, but de-

signed with motifs introduced by the Spanish.

Gold and silver threads

were combined with the wool yarns.

Pisac and Chincero
While staying in Cuzco I visited two small villages, Pisac and
Chincero.

Pisac is a lovely town in a river valley with a small square

in front of the church.

It is famous for its Sunday market where tex-

tiles from all over Peru are sold.

In the square were crowded hundreds

of Indians buying their foodstuffs and tourists buying their souvenirs,

but there were also beautiful textiles for sale.

The mayor of Pisac

paraded through the streets in his official poncho, hat and staff for
the sake of those of us visiting (Slide 25).
I arrived in Chincero, the other village, at a time when no other
visitors were there.

I knew that Chincero was famous for its weaving

so I hoped that I could see some weavers.

appoint me.

The village women did not dis-

Before long four or five women were in front of me trying

to sell their textiles.

They were very aware of tourists' desires and

had little backstrap looms for sale (Slide 26).

The looms were prepared

47

for weaving belts which were partially completed.

ing her warp for a belt (Slide 27).
women asked for money.

One woman was wind-

When I began to take photographs the

When I explained that I, too, was a weaver I

realized that they did not understand Spanish.

At that point my taxi

driver explained in Quechua that I was studying weaving.

One woman

agreed to let me take her picture; then, the others followed her lead.
I knew some weaving terms in Quechua which surprised the women when I
used them.
Pu no
After spending a week in Cuzco, I took the train to Puna located
to the south on Lake Titicaca.

1he train wound higher and higher until

it reached the high plateau on which Puna rests.

journey through treeless country.

It was a monotonous

Occasionally we passed walled farm

houses and herds of alpaca, llama and sheep.

At each village the train

stopped and vendors jumped on to sell their wares.

I knew we were near

Puna when ten or twenty women boarded the train to sell their handknit
clothing characteristic of that area.
In Puna I did not visit any weavers.
market and talked with people.

I made observations at the

Perhaps my most memorable experience

here was witnessing the candlelight parade celebrating the one-hundred

and fiftieth anniversary of the school, San Carlos.

Children of all ages

paraded holding paper lanterns in shapes of fish, animals and people.

Some groups of children were in uniforms while others wore their native
costumes.

Lining the streets were adults in all types of dress.

Some

48
wore the native dress including men in their ponchos, cowboy hats, chaps
and spurs.
The next day I observed more people in the plaza who had come for
the day's festivities.

The women wore bowler-type hats and long braids.

Knit items dominated the goods in the market.

The knit sweaters and caps

were for the foreign tourists, I presume, since I saw few women wearing
any of the articles which they had knit (Slide 28).
while tending the stalls.

Women were knitting

The cooperative I had expected to visit, which

I had learned about in Lima, was closed for the school's celebration.
Although I was not able to visit it I did learn of the island Taquila in
Lake Titicaca.

On

weaving are done.

that island some of the most intricate knitting and

The men knit and the women weave.

They all use very

finely spun yarns to create extremely delicate patterns.

I remembered

having seen their products for sale in the Cuzco market.

I found it in-

teresting to learn that they traded fish for alpaca fleece or yarn.
I visited the floating island of the Uros.

I was told by my guide

that it had been in existence since the time of the Incas.

The island

itself is a wonder since it is constructed wholly of reed.

Three times

a year the inhabitants pile more reed on the surface to rebuild it.
While weaving is not done there they do construct boats with the reeds
which resemble large-scale textile constructions (Slide 29).

A mission-

ary taught the people to embroider items to sell to the tourists.

Un-

fortunately the quality of the wool fabric and the synthetic yarn is poor.
While the motifs of the ancient sun god, Inti, are individual inspirations of the embroiderers, the materials used destroyed the

49
attractiveness of the design.
Since the high plateau is conducive to the breeding of alpaca most
of the textile products are made of alpaca yarn.
yarn varies greatly.

The quality of the

The handwoven ponchos for the local men are made

of tightly spun yarns which are water repellent.

On the other hand the

more loosely spun yarns are used for textiles, especially sweaters, popular with the tourists.
sale.

It is amazing to see so many handknit items for

Knitting provides a supplemental income for the farmers' wives

during the winter.

Even though they receive little money for their time,

they do earn a bit extra for their families.

Surmnary
Puna was the last city I visited in search of information about textiles.

After returning to Lima I was able to look back on experiences

I had had and have a greater appreciation for the textiles.

I became

much more aware of the extreme contrasts between the country and the
city.
As more and more people leave the country to go to Lima to find
work, there will be fewer people left in the villages to maintain the
crafts.

The crafts seem alive and thriving now, but I feel that their

existence is on an extremely delicate edge.

The weavers are all alone

and suffering the consequences of disorganization.

One can hope efforts

to join forces in cooperatives will make it easier and cheaper to buy

yarn and to organize sales for the finished products.
The experience of conducting textile research in Peru was indeed a

50

difficult, but rewarding task.

It was thrilling to be in an envirorunent

where handweaving is commonly done.

ing their trust took time.

Striving to meet people and gain-

Observing the history of textiles from pre-

Columbian times to the present was more than a study of weaving for
political and cultural changes have influenced the direction it has taken.
This study has become a human and socially revealing project.

51

ORIGINAL WORK

Inspirations for my original work came from pre-Columbian textiles

as well as from experiences I had in Peru.

Some of these textiles I had

studied at Iowa State University before I went to Peru.

While several

ideas for my projects were the result of influe nces from the present
day I used techniques characteristic of pre-Columbian Peru .

Since there

were unlimited possibilities I was left to my own imagination and curiosity in developing designs for my woven pieces.
At the start I was interested in functional handwoven textiles.
I had been impressed by the items such as bags, belts, unkus and mantas
which I had viewed in museums in Japan, the United States and in
Peru.

They were extremely pleasing to me both in design and function.

My first major project was a tunic woven with wool yarn.

In the process

of designing this garment I decided to experiment with color using relationships which were new to me in an original overshot pattern
(Slide 30).
Both that tunic and the jacket I made later remind me of the unku
worn in pre-Columbian Peru.

Because all three are loom-shaped garments

they present much the same appearance.

However, most unkus which I saw

in museums had sleeves and so relate more to my jacket which was woven
using an undulating twill pattern (Slide 31).
The two rugs I wove were influenced by other aspects of ancient
and present day textiles of Peru.

In pre-Columbian times many finished

pieces were actually woven in sections and later sewn together.

The

52
rugs which I made were done in that manner.
three strips using a twill pattern.
into one large piece (Slide 32).

The first rug was woven in

The strips were then sewn together

The second rug was woven using tapestry

technique in eight similar units and sewn together in an overall arrangement (Slide 33).

Both rugs employed natural fibers.

At this point I decided to attempt my first large-scale wall hanging.

I had previously worked on a small scale so this was a great

challenge for me.

I found the solution by weaving a number of narrow

strips which I later interwove to create one large textile.

sembles much of the recent weaving of Olga de Amaral.

This re-

I chose colors

derived from Peruvian textiles to weave in brocade and tabby (Slide 34).
After my trip to Peru I had an even greater abundance of ideas for
textiles.

The problem was where to begin.

While in Peru Francisca

Mayer showed me some of her experiments in dyeing sheep's wool and alpaca
revealing the fact that sheep's wool takes the dye more readily than
alpaca allowing differences in value to be achieved from the same dye
bath.

To extend this further I dyed wool and alpaca yarn for a large-

scale wall hanging using colors characteristic of the Paracas textiles I

had seen.

I finished the textile and became

a~are

ties it had reminiscent of the mummy cloths.

quality and seemed to hover its resting place.

of the draping quali-

It had an encircling
As it hung viewers gave

it numerous titles and reasons for its existence including the title I
chose, "Shawl on the Wall" (Slide 36).
Continuing to work on an even larger scale I began a project which
I had thought about since I was in Peru.

I had become fascinated with

53
the guipu, the Peruvian knot records.

At museums in Peru I had been

able to view several and decided to study them further.

Using Leland L.

Locke's book (11) as a resource I was able to learn specific knots and
their significance which I then used in the hanging.

I created a piece

which can be viewed from all sides using both wrapped warps and woven
strips.

I gave it a Quechua name, "Imataj kay?" which means "What Is

It?" (Slide 35).

"A Day at Machu Picchu" was inspired by just such a day.

While I

was at Machu Picchu I was fascinated by the sophisticated stone carvings

and constructions and spent time photographing and sketching.

One area

of Machu Picchu, lhe Temple of the lhree Windows, gave me the idea for
this textile executed in pattern double weave.

From a distance I viewed

the trapezoid-shaped windows and became aware of their stark simplicity.

I wove this textile as a remembrance of that day (Slide 37).
Machu Picchu provided the title for another textile which I had
woven before going to Peru.

lhis handspun, vegetable-dyed tapestry took

on new meaning after I viewed Intihuatana or Hitching Post to the Sun.

lhere in the altitudes this stone carving reminded me of the textile I
had woven earlier (Slide 41).
lhe pre-Columbian textiles I had seen in museums gave me many ideas
with which to work.

In the Amano Museum in Lima I saw several delicately

woven lace weaves which had been carefully preserved.

Using d'Harcourt's

book, Textiles of Ancient Peru and lheir Technigues (4), as a resource I

developed my own design.

It provided a stimulating experience as I

worked with white cotton yarns varying in size and tightness of twist

54
(Slide 38).
"Wallpa" (Chicken) was designed using a bird motif which I found
in an ancient textile.

I used the backstrap loom to weave my own motif.

All the weft yarns in this piece are handspun, plied and dyed with
vegetable dyes which is typical of weaving in Peru.

From this experience

I gained appreciation for the great skill achieved by the weavers of

pre-Columbian Peru (Slide 40).
Another small tapestry was woven with natural shades of alpaca and
wool as well as vegetable dyed yarn.

Part of this yarn I had spun and

part of it was purchased from spinners in Hualhuas.

while I was at the Mayer workshop.

I dyed the yarn

Therefore I wanted to weave a tapes-

try that would represent the beautiful Mantaro Valley.

I decided to

e xperiment with shaped tapestry reminiscent of some shaped tapestry fish

I had seen in Peru (Slide 39).
While in Peru I also saw numerous workbaskets found in the ancient
tombs.

Most of these had contained yarn, spindles, needles and fleece.

Although I did not use the same technique I did create a basket inspired
by the typical shape I had seen in Peru.

My larger "Work Basket" is in-

tended to be used by the weaver for storage of yarn and supplies.

The

smaller "Textile Vessel" was influenced by ceramic artifacts found in

tombs (Slide 42).
At the Larco Herrera Museum and the Amano Museum I saw textile dolls
which had been placed in the graves.
and the patterning used.

I was impressed by both the colors

In creating the "Atahualpa Family" I focused

on color relationships and varied techniques.

With each doll I wove I

55

learned more about simplifying the process.

I enjoyed watching each

doll develop its own personality because of the color and pattern it had.
While I gave each one an individual name they are grouped as a family,
named after the last Inca emperor, for this presentation (Slide 43).
This creative work is the culmination of my research project.

Be-

cause of my study of pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles and my research

project in Peru I was provided with unlimited sources of inspiration.
Some ideas became realities as I had conceived them while others took
on new dimensions as the weaving progressed.

Each textile was a learn-

ing process as well as a personal expression of the experiences which I

had had.
and felt.

These textiles are a lasting expression of what I had learned

56
SLIDE IDENTIFICATION

The Search
Slide

1.

Lima, June 13, 1975. Mrs. Estela Uriarte Company shown consolidating a Chancay tapestry at the .National Museum of
Anthropology and Archeology.

Slide

2.

Lima, June 17, 1975. Fragment of embroidered Paracas unku.

National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology.

Slide

3.

Lima, June 18, 1975. Three coca bags and coca leaves. Provenience unknown. National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology.

Slide

4.

Lima, June 18, 1975. Gauze weave fragment. Provenience unknown. National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology.

Slide

5.

Lima, June 18, 1975. Fragment of a backstrap loom. Provenience unknown. National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology.

Slide

6.

Pachacamac, July 26, 1975. Display of textiles found at the

ruins. 1he Pachacamac Museum.

Slide

7.

Paracas, July 21, 1975. Fragments of textiles found in the

sand at the Paracas burial grounds.

Slide

8.

Huancayo, July 15, 1975.

workshop.

Slide

9.

Huancayo, July 21, 1975. Francisca Mayer left, assisting

Beatriz Arroyo Aquino with her woven wall covering.

Inside Francisca Mayer's weaving

Slide 10.

Huancayo, June 30, 1975.

Teodora, spinning alpaca fleece.

Slide 11.

Huancayo, July 2, 1975.

Mayer workshop.

Slide 12.

Huayucachi, July 3, 1975. Fortunato Urcu Huaranca weaving a

manta with wool yarn on his backstrap loom.

Slide 13.

Huayucachi, July 3, 1975. Santa Cruz Capacyachi and his granddaughter with his embroidery.

Slide 14.

Viques, July 3, 1975. Blanca Huaman de Laureano showing the

belt that she wove on a backstrap loom.

Natural dyed yarns drying at the

57
Slide 15.

Hualhuas, July 11, 1975.

Rojas Caceres.

Foot looms at the workshop of Nicolas

Slide 16.

Hualhuas, July 1, 1975. Oscar Salome weaving a tapestry using

natural dyed alpaca yarn.

Slide 17.

Hualhuas, July 1, 1975.

from fleece.

Slide 18.

Hualhuas, July 11, 1975. Tapestry woven by Eleodora Medina.

Woven with natural alpaca and vegetable-dyed sheep's wool.

Slide 19.

Hualhuas, July 11, 1975.

Yanqui.

Slide 20.

Cochas Chico, July 8, 1975.

backstrap loom.

Slide 21.

Cochas Chico, July 8, 1975. Teodora Canturin de Vasquez spinning and walking with her daughter, Teodora, and her sisterin-law, Julia Vasquez.

Slide 22.

Aco, July 14, 1975. Women at the festival carrying loads in

mantas on their backs.

Slide 23.

Huancayo, July 13, 1975.

Slide 24.

Pisac, August 3, 1975. Textiles from the Cuzco area displayed

at the Pisac Sunday market.

Slide 25.

Pisac, August 3, 1975.

dress.

Slide 26.

Chincero, August 5, 1975. Woman displaying her backstrap loom

and belts with designs typical of Chincero.

Slide 27.

Chincero, August 5, 1975.

Slide 28.

Puno, August 7, 1975.

Slide 29.

Isla de los Uros, August 8, 1975.

island in Lake Titicaca.

Mrs. Salome spinning alpaca yarn

Tapestry woven by Victor Tupan

Esteben Vasquez weaving on his

Textiles at the feria.

The mayor of Pisac in his official

Woman winding the warp for a belt.

Textiles displayed at the market.

Reed boat made on the

58
The Original Woven Textiles
Slide 30.

Tunic for the Rye Farmers of Finland

corranercially dyed wool
33 x 22", 84 x 56 cm

Slide 31.

Unku 1974
connnercially dyed linen and wool
52 x 24", 132 x 61 cm

Slide 32.

Form Follows Function

chemically dyed cotton and jute
55 x 40", 140 x 101 ~ cm

Slide 33.

Eight Piece Repeat

natural linen and connnercially dyed wool
53\ x 3732", 135~ x 95 cm

Slide 34.

Plain Weave Brocade

connnercially dyed linen and wool, wool dyed with
natural dyes
65 x 65", 166 x 166 cm

Slide 35.

Quipu I, Imataj kay? (What is it?)

corranercially dyed linen and wool, jute
70 x 58", 178 x 14732 cm

Slide 36.

Munnny Cloth I, Shawl on the Wall

wool and alpaca dyed with chemical and natural dyes
65 x 30", 165 x 76 cm

Slide 37.

A Day at Machu Picchu

Slide 38.

Chancay Lace
bleached cotton
45 x 29", 114 x

wool dyed with chemical dyes

31\ x 1432", 79 x 36~ cm

73~

cm

Slide 39.

The Great Mantaro Valley

corranercially dyed cotton, natural wool and alpaca, wool and
alpaca dyed with chemical and natural dyes
18 x 11", 46 x 28 cm

Slide 40.

Wallpa (Chicken)
unbleached linen and handspun wool dyed with vegetable
dyes
11 x 9\ ", 2832 x 23 cm

59
Slide 41.

Intihuatana (Hitching Post to the Sun)

unbleached linen and wool, handspun wool dyed with
vegetable dyes
19~ x 13~", 49 x 34 cm

Slide 42.

Work Basket
jute and connnercially dyed wool
14 x 10 x 6", 35~ x 2532 x 15 cm
Textile Vessel
cotton and acrylic
5 x 4 x 4", 12~ x 10 x 10 cm

Slide 43.

The Atahualpa Family

commercially dyed cotton and wool, wool and alpaca
dyed with chemical and natural dyes
each doll body 11 x 6", 28 x 15 cm

60

SUMMARY

The results of this investigation have made the study of Peruvian

textiles more relevant to me.

Although I was aware that history and art

are part of the whole society this fact became more evident as the study
progressed.

I observed the current social conditions which have a great

impact on the weavers who are the original inhabitants of Peru.

Viewing

their poverty I was deeply impressed by the weavers' relentless creative

efforts.

While there is a developing awareness by the Peruvian govern-

ment of its national treasures the weavers live near a starvation level.
Protection is reserved for the pre-Columbian textiles but little is done
for the present day textile artist.
Links to the past are evident in all areas of the folk arts.

Some

weavers produce exact copies of past textiles while others create fabrics
inspired by pre-Columbian motifs.

Some weaving techniques have not

changed greatly in over one-thousand years.

Weavers today develop de-

signs on the backstrap loom much as their predecessors must have done.
Certain aspects of the arts have changed since the time of the
Incas.

The weavers of today are no longer subsidized nor protected by

the government.

Since the ancient religion was abolished by the Spanish

few textiles are now needed for religious rituals.

become important.

Connnercialism has

Only those few artists with a sound business back-

ground are able to survive.

Inspiration for my work came from both the study of historic textiles and my experiences in Peru.

I was able to experiment with

61

techniques of the past as a part of my research.

In the course of this

investigation I have been deeply affected by the Peru of the past and the
present.
Through this project I hope I have been able to demonstrate the
importance of traditional textiles and their relevance to weavers of
today.

There is a vast amount of knowledge about ancient Peruvian tex-

tiles which can enrich contemporary weavers.

The textile history of

Peru in addition to the Peruvian weaving of today have been a true inspiration to me.

62
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.

Bird, Junius. "Shaped Tapes try Bags from the Nazca- Ica Area of
Peru." Textile Museum Journal 1 (1964): 2-7.

2.

Bird, Junius and Bellinger, Louisa. Paracas Fabrics and Nazca

Needlework. Washington, D.C.: National Publishing Company, 1954.

3.

d'Harcourt, Raoul. "Peruvian Textile Techniques."

(February 1960): 2-40.

4.

d'Harcourt, Raoul. Textiles of Ancient Peru and Their Techniques.

Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington Press, 1962.

5.

de Gamez, Tana, ed. Simon and Schuster's International Dictionary,

English/Spanish, Spanish/English. New York: Simon and Schuster,
1973.

6.

Emery, Irene. The Primary Structures of Fabrics.

The Textile Museum, 1966.

7.

Fiske, Patricia L., ed. Irene Emery Roundtable .!!Museum Textiles

1974 Proceedings, Archeological Textiles. Washington, D.C.: The
Textile Museum, 1975.

8.

Five Thousand Years of Peruvian Textiles.

lisher), 1961.

9.

Goodell, Grace. "The Cloth of the Quechuas."

(December 1969): 48-55.
Weaving.

New York:

Ciba Review 12

Washington, D.C.:

Lima, Peru:

(no pub-

Natural History 78

10.

Held, Shirley E.
Inc., 1973.

Holt, Rinehart and Winston,

11.

Locke, L. Leland. The Ancient Quipu or Peruvian Knot Record.

York: The American Museum of Natural History, 1923.

12.

Mullins, Barbara. Recetas de Tintes Naturales.

Center (Institute Centro de Arte), 1973.

13.

Murra, John Victor. "The Economic Organization of the Inca State."

Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1956.

14.

O'Neale, Lila M. "Textile Periods in Ancient Peru: 2, Paracas

Caverns and the Necropolis." University of California Publications
in American Archeology and Ethnology 39 (1942): 143-202.

Lima, Peru:

New
Art

63
15.

O'Neale, Lila M. and Kroeber, Alfred L. "Textile Periods of

Ancient Peru." University of California Publications in American
Archeology and Ethnology 28 (1930): 23-56.

16.

Van Stan, Ina. Problems in Pre-Columbian Textile Classification.

Tallahassee: The Florida State University, 1958.

17.

Zimmern, Nathalie H. Introduction to Peruvian Costume.

The Brooklyn Museum, 1949.

Brooklyn:

64

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Shirley E. Held for her support and guidance
in undertaking this study.

Appreciation is extended to Mary L. Meixner

and Margaret C. Warning for their help and encouragement.

I would also

like to thank Dean Emeritus Helen Le Baron Hilton and Dean Ruth Deacon
for their financial support of this project.

My graduate study would not

have been possible without the encouragement and support of my parents,

Richard and Alice Schroeder.
In Peru I owe much to the aid of my good friend, Elva Perez, and I
wish to extend appreciation to Angelica and Gamaniel Perez who gave unlimited time and energy as well as wise counsel while in Lima.

I would

also like to thank Magdalena de Monzarz and Edourd Versteylen for their
cooperation.

To Francisca Mayer I wish to give my sincere thanks.

Without her generous sharing of time and knowledge of the development

of contemporary weaving in Peru I could not have completed this study.
Appreciation is extended to the entire Mayer family in Huancayo for
their kind hospitality while I was with them.

And to the weavers of

Peru, known and unknown, I give my thanks for sharing their art with me.

65

APPENDIX A:

Artesania:

GLOSSARY

Spanish word for handicrafts (5).

Callapa: Quechua word for wooden tool used to hold the fleece in place
while spinning. Used in the Huancayo area.
Chulla: Knit cap worn by Indian men in Peru.
covering the ears.
Colectivo:

Characterized by flaps

Spanish word for passenger vehicle smaller than a bus (5).

Eccentric tapestry: Tapestry having wefts that deviate from the horizontal and from their normal right-angled relation to the warps (6).
Feria:

Spanish word for market or fair (5).

Foot loom:

Foot treadle floor loom.

Guaco or huaco: Spanish word for ceramic vessel found in Indian burial
grounds (5).
Gusano:
Huaca:
Ikat:

Spanish word for worm or caterpillar.

Name of a weaving pattern.

Spanish word for Indian Burial grounds (5).

The process of resist dyeing portions of a warp or weft (or both)

before weaving to create a pattern (10).

Kelim: Slit tapestry. Found in tapestry weaving where two bands of

colors meet but do not join creating a slit in the fabric (6).
Manta:
Propina:
Pullo:
Quechua:
Quipu:

Spanish word for a large shawl.

Spanish word for a voluntary gift of money for service (5).
Small square-shaped shawl worn by women in Peru.
Language spoken by the Quechua people in Peru.
Ancient Peruvian system used to keep records by tying knots.

Scaffold weft: Used in constructing fabrics of discontinuous warp and

weft. The scaffolding yarns were withdrawn and the pieces of fabric
later joined by replacing the withdrawn wefts to create a solid
fabric (6).

66
Taller:

Spanish word for workshop or atelier (5).

Twining: The turning of groups of two or more elements of the same set
about each other to enclose successive elements of the opposite
set (6).
Unku:

Loom-shaped garment worn on the upper half of the body in preColumbian Peru.

67

APPENDIX B:

PERSONS INTERVIEWED

Estela Uriarte Company: Textile conservationist, National Museum of

Anthropology and Archeology, Lima.
Magdalena de Monzarz:
Bernardo Luck:

Folk craft shop owner and exporter, Lima.

Francisca Mayer:
Huancayo.
James Plunkett:

The Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Lima.

Weaver, owner and director of the Taller F. Mayer,

Exporter of folk craft, Lima.

Pedro Rojas: Director of the artisan division, Ministry of Industry

and Tourism, Lima.
Edourd Versteylen: Director of Conservation, National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology, Lima .
Dr. Hilda Vidal: Physical anthropologist, National Museum of Anthropology
and Archeology, Lima.
Roberto Vizurraga:
Lima.
James Vreeland:

Representative of the Artisan Cooperative of Puna,

Director of the Julio C. Tello Project, Lima.