On my last design trip to Lima, Peru I had the chance to visit the Amano Museum. I heard about the wonderful collection of textiles that were housed there, though nothing prepared me for the magnificence of the artifacts gathered there.

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These photographs of original Chancay textile fragments are shown by courtesy of Laverne Waddington.

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This privately owned museum consists of many artifacts, but mainly textiles from the lesser-known Chancay culture that flourished between 900 AD-1400 AD in an area about fifty miles north of Lima. Mr. Yoshitaro Amano, a Japanese businessman, collected everything since the end of the Second World War when he settled back in Peru. His business gave him the financial freedom to pursue his long held passion for pre-historic Andean archeology and his dream of collecting, preserving and understanding the significance of Chancay artifacts. He never charged to visit his museum as he felt it would be inappropriate to charge the Peruvian people to see a collection of artifacts from their own cultural heritage, but he has certainly repaid his debt with the care and love that this collection imbues. Visits are by appointment only, and as the guides speak only Spanish or Japanese, Marcia from PC’s Lima office came with me to translate in whispers as we went around. We arrived at the museum, a simple building that used to be Mr. Amano’s home, at the appointed time and were buzzed in through the iron gates.  We crossed a bridge over a long rectangular pool brimming with hundreds of goldfish, then the magic began.

We were led upstairs into the first room, which consists of ceramics organized chronologically to show the progression and differences between the cultures. To start with, we were given an overview of the succeeding Peruvian civilizations from the Chavin culture from around 900 BC until the invasion of the Conquistadores. Not only were these ceramics still whole, but the colors and patterns were still completely intact, decorated with figures and representations of the important plants and animals used in daily life.  It was striking how everyday things, especially crops, animals and fish were consistently represented through all the periods, whether the objects were for everyday or ceremonial use.

But it is the second room that is the most astonishing, a mouth-wateringly gorgeous collection of textiles. There are some representative textiles in cases on the walls around the room, but the majority of the treasures are kept hidden in large, plain chest drawers. These were randomly opened for a few minutes at a time as we went around the room again in chronological order. The oldest pieces in the museum are almost 4000 years old, though the majority of the pieces range in age from 600 AD to 1500 AD and incredibly are still almost perfect. The very dry and sandy conditions unique to the Chancay Valley region of Peru preserved the textiles as if they had only just been placed there. Even quite recently it was still possible to go to this area and find bones, bits of textiles and pottery lying in the sandy ground.

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Remains in Pisquillo, Chancay Valley. Photos courtesy of Karina Nielson Rios.

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Amongst the first drawers to be opened is one that displays tiny decorated drop spindles, used to spin the incredibly fine cotton and later, the alpaca thread that was used to create all these textiles. Some of it was so fine that even today it wouldn’t be easy to produce by machine. The craftsmanship to produce it would have taken years to learn. One of the important identifying features of the textiles was the use of various types of twist in the yarn, each type used specifically by different groups for very specific techniques. It was also possible to see when camelid fibers from highland areas were introduced into the cloth, as trading between highland and coastal regions started. This area and the yarn they produced would initially only have been indigenously grown cotton.

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Spindles and a small Pre-Columbian Chancay Weaver's basket, 800-1200 A.D. Peru

The most stunning impression made on me though was that the intensity of the colors was still so clear and bright. The vivid shades of red, ochre, rust, gold and even blue are all from natural local sources, cochineal, weld, indigo and various tannins being the most common, and are evidence of the significant technical mastery the dyers achieved.

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From Ell On Tour

Especially beautiful and unique are the Chancay gauzes, today called Leno weaves.  These incredibly lightweight lace panels were woven on simple back-strap looms and apparently were produced purely for ceremonial use. Most were found wrapped around the mummified remains. The complex structures were constructed by hand manipulating the warp threads as they were woven. Panels were then often joined together and some were over embroidered to add further textural dimension, as well as figurative representations of animals and insects. Some were even over-dyed afterwards in a sort of ancient tie-dye effect to mimic animal markings.

Karina Nielson Rios has studied these textiles in depth at the Amano Museum and now weaves beautiful leno weaves in her Native Denmark, inspired by the Chancay Gauzes.  I would like to thank her for so generously sharing her beautiful work and allowing me to use her photographs.

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Gorgeous zig-zag gauze and close up courtesy of Karina Nielson Rios.

As we went around the room and drawer after drawer was pulled out, I was almost speechless at the beauty of these ancient fabrics and the complexity of the multiple techniques that were often used. The majority of the pieces are woven using various versions of techniques to be able to create patterns, so as to be able to incorporate both stylized and more realistic representations of various creatures and anthropomorphic figures into the cloth. There were very few pieces that I saw that were simple stripes, and even these involved little brocades.  It seems that these artisans were much more interested in exploring pattern and color and imagery. There seems to be almost a childlike joy being expressed in the work and especially the recurring motifs of birds, felines and snakes that echo the trinity of spirit world, earthly existence and underworld.

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Chancay gauze from the Amano, showing common feline motifs.

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Chancay gauze from the Amano with tie-dye over dye after weaving.

In addition to the pieces with imagery woven into the fabric, there are also softly toned painted cotton cloths, which use various resist methods to create the patterns and imagery of important creatures and objects in the lives of the artisans.

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Fragment of cotton cloth painted with feline gods from Paracas, 1000 BC.

One of my favorite pieces is a patchwork panel created from a resist pattern woolen cloth, that would have been used as a shawl, all beautifully cut apart and re-stitched back together to create a geometric design using the highest level of skill.

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Woolen cloth in patchwork with tie-dyed geometric pattern from Santa Cruz, 800 AD

There are a few exceptional pieces of feather work, which would have been for ceremonial use. These textiles are extremely fragile and much more prone to disintegration. Feathers were individually tied to threads and added to weavings to add brilliant color and maybe it is suggested for the waterproof properties of the feathers. Certainly wearing one of the feathered ponchos would have been a stunning sight as all the feathers fluttered subtley with the wearer’s movements.

The guides showing the collection apparently never open the drawers in the same order, so only a small portion of the collection can ever be seen in each hour long visit; each drawer is only held open long enough for a quick explanation and then shut again. However, this brief exposure was enough to leave me feeling very humble at the skill and artistry of these people working so long ago with so few resources. This collection of textiles is a both a connecting point on the span of time between those long ago artists and myself creating textiles today; as well as an enduring record of the passionate spirit of craftsmen to create beautiful imagery as a celebration of life.

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Hiram Bingham in Peru during the 1911 Expedition

The world was abuzz with the excitement of discovery in the early 20^th century: adventurers were racing to the North and South poles, excavators were scouring Egypt for King Tut’s tomb, and explorers were uncovering ancient ruins all across Peru.  Rumors of a “lost” Inca city swirled as more and more explorers set their sights on this South American gem, with its rich cultural heritage, its ancient legacies and its diverse terrain.  Driven by the prospect of discovering this lost city, Hiram Bingham, a South American History Professor at Yale, organized a seven-man team for an adventure of a lifetime. His exploration team, known as The Yale Peruvian Expedition, left American shores on June 8, 1911, full of excitement and anticipation for what they would discover in Peru.

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A view of the trail to Machu Picchu (which of course did not exist when Bingham climbed it)

The following morning, July 24^th, Bingham embarked on a hike that would lead him to his destiny.  Climbing towards the ridge with one other crew member and the local merchant Arteaga, who was hired as a guide, Bingham recalled that for “a good part of the distance we went on all fours, sometimes holding on by our fingernails.”  After an hour and a half, they reached a clearing where a single hut stood.  It belonged to a family of Indian farmers, the Richartes, who found refuge from their oppressive landlord on this rich soil four years before.  Along with two other families, they successfully harvested potatoes, maize, peppers, sugar cane, tomatoes and berries high up in the peaks of the Andes.  As it turns out, the surprised family was acquainted with Arteaga and agreed to show Bingham the way to the ruins.

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A view of the ruins at Machu Picchu

Richarte’s barefoot son, who was no older than eight, guided them through thick thorn-ridden vines and branches.  Nearing one of the peaks, Bingham suddenly saw his treasure:  “a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of white granite, most carefully cut and beautifully fitted together without cement. Surprise followed surprise until there came the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru.”  And so Bingham “discovered” the now-famous ruins of Machu Picchu.

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Machu Picchu today

Without surprise, Bingham’s designation as the “discoverer” of these ruins is wrought with difficulties and controversies.  Not only were indigenous people living in the ruins, but, once made public, many people came forward claiming to have visited the ruins earlier.  Defending his “discovery”, Bingham later wrote, “I suppose that in the same sense of the word as it is used in the expression ‘Columbus discovered America’ it is fair to say that I discovered Machu Picchu.” Nonetheless, he did shine the public spotlight on the ruins of Machu Picchu, which are now a major source of tourism in Peru.  As Heaney explains, “no one had yet described Machu Picchu, photographed the ruins, or tried to understand them as a historical site.”

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One of the original photos of Machu Picchu taken by Hiram Bingham

Upon Bingham’s rediscovery, The Yale Peruvian Expedition immediately set to work uncovering  and documenting the ruins.  With the help of the indigenous families, they cleared the overgrown vegetation to fully reveal the stunning stone buildings, captured forever in Bingham’s breath-taking photographs of the ruins.  When he returned to Connecticut, these photos helped him garner support from both Yale and the National Geographic Society for his return excavation trip the following year, 1912.

On his return trip, he first had to secure the Peruvian government’s approval, which had strict laws against the exportation of any Peruvian artifact.  Although highly contested and debated, Bingham finally won the assent of the law, but only under two conditions: 1) that his crew finish by the first of December that year (shortening excavation from 10-20 years to less than a year); and 2) that Peru had the right to request the return of all excavated materials.  In other words, Peru had agreed to loan these artifacts to Yale for the sake of research.

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Hiram Bingham and a local man at Machu Picchu during the excavation

On July 24, 1912, one year to the day that he rediscovered the ruins, Bingham’s crew opened the first of several machays, or burial sites. In this first grave, they found only some broken pots and a few human remains, “sitting upright with the knees pulled up to the chest in the manner of most Andean burials” (137).  Again with the help of the local Peruvian farmers, Bingham’s crew managed to excavate 107 graves, ultimately yielding 173 human remains and thousands of potsherds, stone carvings and bronze and silver artifacts.  This massive collection was sent back to Yale in 93 of the expedition’s food boxes, which, as Heaney explains, represented the “only intact collection of human and artistic remains from an Inca royal estate that escaped the torches of the Spanish conquest” (150).

With this tremendous collection, Bingham set to work theorizing the historical significance of this ancient civilization: Who were these people?  How did they fit in the timeline of Inca history?  Why were they located in such a remote location?  As Bingham asked his readers in the February issue of National Geographic, “Is it possible that at Machu Picchu we have the ruins of Tampu-tocco (the legendary birthplace of the Incas) and also the ruins of Vilcabamba the Old, the sacred city of one of the last Incas and the home of his women and priests?”  To his death, Bingham believed Machu Picchu was both the cradle and the grave of Inca civilization.

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Ruins at Espiritu Pampa

But, time has proven both theories to be wrong.  Tampu Tocco, that legendary cave from which the first Inca was “born,” is now understood to be south of Cuzco in Pacariqtambo.  Vilcabamba, the last city established by Manco Inca as he fled from the Spanish, is now associated with Espiritu Pampa.  Machu Picchu is now believed to be a royal estate that was built for Pachacutec, an early Inca emperor who greatly expanded the empire from the Cuzco valley to nearly the entire civilized South America.  Heaney explains that Machu Picchu is hailed as “the best of all Inca sites,” representing the realization of their architectural and religious ideals: “to worship the sun by building toward it, aligning altars along its path; to honor mountains by building out of them, quarrying stone from the site itself; to glorify water with acequias, canals of waters that fed burbling baths” (214).  Bingham’s vast excavation has yielded a wealth of knowledge about the Inca people, from their daily habits to their overarching beliefs about life and death.

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An Inca relic bottle, one of the thousands of pieces excavated from Machu Picchu that are to return to Peru this year. Image courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum

The year 2011 marks the hundredth anniversary of Hiram Bingham’s epic scientific discovery of Machu Picchu.  This year also marks the rightful return of all the objects excavated in 1912 by the Yale Peruvian Scientific Expedition.  In celebration of these landmarks, a new museum and research center is being jointly inaugurated by Cuzco University and Yale University in the Casa Concha, the former palace of the emperor Topa Inca.  The museum in the center of Cuzco will house the artifacts excavated in 1912.  The adjacent research center will conserve and investigate the collections, serving as the home of an academic collaboration between the two universities.  This new museum and research center embodies one of Bingham’s last wishes concerning the excavated objects and the ongoing partnership between Peruvian and American researchers.  In support of this monumental collaboration, Peruvian Connection will donate all proceeds from the sale of our Expedition Vest to this new establishment.  Designed after the original vest Hiram Bingham wore on the 1911 discovery expedition to Machu Picchu (which you can see at the top of this blog), our Expedition Vest packs a remarkable story in every stitch.

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All our stores are getting ready for the holidays, with lots of beautiful merch arriving daily, and fabulous finds from Prize Antiques at our Kansas City and Washington DC locations.

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The Kuba people of Africa have a vital textile tradition pulsing through their deeply rooted history, their rituals, their culture and their art.  Known as People of the lightning, People of the king and People of the cloth, the Kuba people are actually eighteen different, but culturally related, ethnic groups living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (although some say nineteen groups).  Their designation as “people of the lightning” derives from their exulted skill in throwing many-bladed ritualistic knives (shongo) that resemble lightning. In the language of their neighboring tribe, the Luba, Kuba literally means “lightning.”  The Kuba self-identify as “people of the king,” unified under one royal leader whose lineage has been preserved for over 400 years.  Their identification as “people of the cloth,” or Bambala, encapsulates their rich legacy as virtuosos of the textile arts.  On another level, it also refers to the Kuba’s astonishing bounty of status cloth and ceremonial costumes, marking this group as particularly wealthy and powerful.  These cloths are commonly used as a means of measuring wealth and, in fact, some cloths are used as a form of currency (“woven currency”).  Even the King’s palace is centered around cloth: it is always built within the “well-woven plains” and the name of the palace itself conjures the word mbal, used to refer to a panel of woven raffia cloth.

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Kuba face mask

Kuba dress

Peruvian Connection is proud to support The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., which currently houses an impressive collection of Kuba textiles.  This exhibit is the first major museum exhibition in the U.S. to spotlight such a wide-ranging survey of Kuba design.  For more information about this exhibit and The Textile Museum, please visit their website here.

Peruvian food is a delicious fusion resulting from Spanish, Japanese, African, and Chinese influences, blended with flavors from the native Quechua culture.  Many of the cuisine’s key ingredients are as healthful as they are flavorful, featuring seafood, quinoa, and an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. 

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Read more in the Wall Street Journal article, including a recipe for Sea Bass Ceviche with Leche de Tigre.  For more recipes, see our newsletters: Peruvian Markets (recipe for Choclo San Antonio), Potatoes: from the Andes to Ireland (recipe for Papas Rellenas), and our blogs with recipes for Pisco Sours, Quinoa Salad, and Suspiro de Limeña.

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The bold red hues that characterize many Andean textiles often start with a bug: the Cochineal.  As early as the 15^th century, the Aztecs and Mayans were extracting red carmine dyes from the cochineal, a scale insect that resembles a beetle. Cochineal feed on the prickly pear cactus, which thrives in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

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Foraged wild flowers are used at length in the production of yellow and orange dyes.  The most commonly used are the flowers of the Qolle tree or Quico flowers, both indigenous plants of Peru.  By simply boiling the flowers with the yarns (most often alpaca) for various lengths of time, Peruvians are able to achieve an impressive spectrum of oranges and yellows.  Orange dyes can also be extracted from a type of lichen that grows on rocks, known as Qaqa Sunka, which translates from Quechua to mean “beard lichen.”

Probably the easiest of all dyes to find in nature is the color green, which can be derived from a gamut of plant and mineral sources. In Peru, Ch’illca, a green leafy shrub with white flowers, is one of the most common sources for green pigment, especially around Cuzco. 

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Indigo is one of the oldest and most coveted dyes in the world.  It was used extensively throughout ancient India to create gorgeous textiles and for centuries blue clothing was seen as a status symbol, being worn only by royalty. 

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Of course, there are many beautiful textiles and garments produced without any dyes at all.  Alpaca fleece is available in a beautiful range of natural colors, including black, grey, white and caramel.

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Huayruro Tree

If drinking with a guinea pig isn’t what you had in mind, maybe you should consider picking up some gorgeously hued red Huayruro seeds.  Found in the pods of a tree native to Peru, these seeds are thought to bring good luck and wealth, while defending against harm and negative energy.  The vibrant red and black hues are not only pleasing to the eye, but they’re also believed to bring balance. Collected from the jungle floor by locals, these seeds are usually kept in jars in the home, or worn as a bracelet.  New born babies in Peru are often given Huayruro seeds as their first gift, as a welcoming wish for a blessed, prosperous life.  These seeds are used by Peruvian artisans to craft spectacular pieces of jewelry, so be on the lookout next time you’re in the market. 

 If you’ve ever visited an Andean town in Cusco, such as Chinchero or Ollantaytambo, then chances are you noticed a pair of ceramic bulls on many of the rooftops.  These ceramic bulls are also thought to ensure good luck, by protecting the house itself and by bringing health and abundance to the family inside.  They’re called toritos de Pucar, “bulls of Pucara,” because authentic luck-bearing bulls come only from Pucara, a region just outside Cusco.  They are always placed on the roof, where they can view the apus, the mountain gods of the ancient Incas.  These gods are believed to be the most powerful of the natural spirits, protecting the local people of the highlands.  The ceramic bulls help garner these protective spirits, bringing even more positive energy into the home. 

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Milagro Hand Pendant $99

Another widely used good luck charm in Peruvian folk culture is the milagro.  The milagro, which translates from Spanish to mean “miracle” or “surprise,” is often a metal charm with a signifying shape, such as a heart (love), a leg (strength) or a man/woman’s head (spirit, wisdom).  Traditionally, these charms would be offered to a saint as a religious votive for answering a specific prayer.  For example, if someone had a sore leg, this person may use a small silver leg as an offering for the cure.  Today, milagros serve many functions outside religious purposes.  These ancient talismans continue to be used for good fortune, worn as necklaces, stashed under pillows or hidden in pockets.  Some common milagros include the arm (work, touch), eyes (vision, intuition), sheep (community, faithfulness), horse (journey, travel), dog (protection, loyalty) or a house (protection, family).  Another popular milagro is the heart-in-hand charm, which represents ones connectedness with others, the feeling of compassion and the healing quality of touch.  Whether you’re looking for love, health or prosperity, I wish you the best of luck!

The Navajo Lace Cardigan made its first appearance in our Spring 2010 catalog and was a big hit with PC customers as well as PC employees.  Offered again in our Summer 2011 catalog in a new selection of colors, it was once again a bestseller.

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Nature's Recycling: a robin's nest made of shredded blue tarp

Friday, April 22nd marks the 41st anniversary of the greenest day of the year, Earth Day.  Created to inspire appreciation and awareness of the earth’s natural environment, it is now observed in more than 175 countries. Earth Day was founded by US Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.  He was compelled to take action after a visit to California following a devastating 1969 oil spill – green awareness has been brought to the forefront this year after the 2010 gulf oil spill, as well as Japan’s nuclear disaster.

On Wednesday of this week, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition featured a Peruvian Connection favorite, the Textile Museum of Washington, DC.   The Textile Museum is celebrating the symbolism of the color green with its new exhibition titled Green: The Color and the Cause.  The exhibit features contemporary art installations as well as historical textiles, some green in color and some green in the way they have been created.  The artists represent five continents, and have used the green concept in themes of sustainability, recycling, and interaction with the natural world.  The show runs through September 11, 2011. 

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Sacred Planet: The Pride of Barbados, by Jane Dunnewold