Like many objects from otherwise exotic or ancient cultures, the Nazca pouch with tassels seems to have a timeless function: it is useful for putting things in. It is not a shoulder bag, of course, as it has no strap. But this beautiful textile, woven using the interlocking tapestry technique with cotton warps and wool wefts,¹ has a top of undyed camelid wool netting that could be gathered and tied with a cord or strap, and held in the hand or attached to a garment. The pouch consists of two pieces, each with four selvedge edges, which are sewn together on three sides. Their exact function is uncertain, but they were probably carried by men, and ‘might have held coca leaves’.²

Six colours were employed: red, yellow, orange-brown, brown, light blue and a blackish colour derived from the indigo plant or molluscs. Three of these were also used for the four long tassels at the bottom of the bag. Each tassel has a round head formed of cotton stuffing covered by red, black and yellow woven textile. The tessellated pattern consists of black outlines of yellow cats (each with red and black eyes and mouth) and blue cats (red and yellow features) in an upward direction, and brown cats (red and yellow features) and orange-brown cats (yellow and red features) in a downward direction. The cat zones are separated with zig-zagged lines. Most sequences are consistent, although oddities appear on both sides, with incomplete and half-patterns or anomalous repeats.

Selecting a motif of felines—Peru had at least seven kinds of wildcats, from margays to jaguars and pumas—has religious overtones, as ceremonial and everyday life were intertwined. Spinning and weaving were important activities in all the ancient cultures, and the pouch could have been used while gathering herbs for medicines and rituals. Its irregular pattern is unusual in the world of the great, perfectionist Nazca weavers.

Christine Dixon

1. Technical and descriptive information by Hannah Barrett, Textile Conservator at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Conservation Report, 3 December 2012.

2. Junius B. Bird, ‘Shaped tapestry bags from the Nazca-Ica area of Peru’, Textile Museum Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, December 1964, p. 3.

Like many objects from otherwise exotic or ancient cultures, the Nazca pouch with tassels seems to have a timeless function: it is useful for putting things in. It is not a shoulder bag, of course, as it has no strap. But this beautiful textile, woven using the interlocking tapestry technique with cotton warps and wool wefts,¹ has a top of undyed camelid wool netting that could be gathered and tied with a cord or strap, and held in the hand or attached to a garment. The pouch consists of two pieces, each with four selvedge edges, which are sewn together on three sides. Their exact function is uncertain, but they were probably carried by men, and ‘might have held coca leaves’.²

Six colours were employed: red, yellow, orange-brown, brown, light blue and a blackish colour derived from the indigo plant or molluscs. Three of these were also used for the four long tassels at the bottom of the bag. Each tassel has a round head formed of cotton stuffing covered by red, black and yellow woven textile. The tessellated pattern consists of black outlines of yellow cats (each with red and black eyes and mouth) and blue cats (red and yellow features) in an upward direction, and brown cats (red and yellow features) and orange-brown cats (yellow and red features) in a downward direction. The cat zones are separated with zig-zagged lines. Most sequences are consistent, although oddities appear on both sides, with incomplete and half-patterns or anomalous repeats.

Selecting a motif of felines—Peru had at least seven kinds of wildcats, from margays to jaguars and pumas—has religious overtones, as ceremonial and everyday life were intertwined. Spinning and weaving were important activities in all the ancient cultures, and the pouch could have been used while gathering herbs for medicines and rituals. Its irregular pattern is unusual in the world of the great, perfectionist Nazca weavers.

Christine Dixon

1. Technical and descriptive information by Hannah Barrett, Textile Conservator at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Conservation Report, 3 December 2012.

2. Junius B. Bird, ‘Shaped tapestry bags from the Nazca-Ica area of Peru’, Textile Museum Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, December 1964, p. 3.