The unku or tunic demonstrates the complexity of Chancay weaving. It was found in the Chancay Valley but it has many distinctive links in style and shape to textiles, and particularly tunics, from the late Chimú period.¹ Comparable garments have the same boxy appearance, with a very wide rectangular body, 
a simple slit neckline and short, stumpy sleeves. Tassels dangling from the bottom also appear on many Chimú unkus.

The base of this garment is a lattice pattern, formed using an open-work weaving technique. The floating heads and surrounding boxes have then been woven in tapestry on top of the lattice foundation. On top of both these textile layers, bunches of fibres have been gathered together and stitched on to create the tassels that cover the entire tunic. The tassels are formed from the same brilliant red fibre as the tapestry boxes, conveying the all-over effect of a red garment.

The yellow and pink faces that cover this garment suggest the ancient Peruvian tradition of decorating regalia with imagery of severed heads. The tops of each of these heads are crowned with 
a semi-circular headdress, and they wear round ear plugs. A series of oblongs hangs below the heads and mimics the tassels that cover the entire garment. A particular feature of this unku, which makes it exceedingly rare, is the use of red textile discs—
a supplementary addition to the construction of the tunic. These were made using a spiral warp and radial weft.² The creation and assembly of this tunic is extremely unusual, and only five others with the same structure are known to exist.³

Simeran Maxwell

1. Elizabeth P. Benson and William J. Conklin, Museums of the Andes, Tokyo: Newsweek 1981, p. 125.

2. Benson and Conklin, p. 125.

3 Yukihiro Tsunoyama (ed.), Textiles of the Andes: Catalog of Amano collection, San Francisco: Heian 1979, p. 202.

The unku or tunic demonstrates the complexity of Chancay weaving. It was found in the Chancay Valley but it has many distinctive links in style and shape to textiles, and particularly tunics, from the late Chimú period.¹ Comparable garments have the same boxy appearance, with a very wide rectangular body, 
a simple slit neckline and short, stumpy sleeves. Tassels dangling from the bottom also appear on many Chimú unkus.

The base of this garment is a lattice pattern, formed using an open-work weaving technique. The floating heads and surrounding boxes have then been woven in tapestry on top of the lattice foundation. On top of both these textile layers, bunches of fibres have been gathered together and stitched on to create the tassels that cover the entire tunic. The tassels are formed from the same brilliant red fibre as the tapestry boxes, conveying the all-over effect of a red garment.

The yellow and pink faces that cover this garment suggest the ancient Peruvian tradition of decorating regalia with imagery of severed heads. The tops of each of these heads are crowned with 
a semi-circular headdress, and they wear round ear plugs. A series of oblongs hangs below the heads and mimics the tassels that cover the entire garment. A particular feature of this unku, which makes it exceedingly rare, is the use of red textile discs—
a supplementary addition to the construction of the tunic. These were made using a spiral warp and radial weft.² The creation and assembly of this tunic is extremely unusual, and only five others with the same structure are known to exist.³

Simeran Maxwell

1. Elizabeth P. Benson and William J. Conklin, Museums of the Andes, Tokyo: Newsweek 1981, p. 125.

2. Benson and Conklin, p. 125.

3 Yukihiro Tsunoyama (ed.), Textiles of the Andes: Catalog of Amano collection, San Francisco: Heian 1979, p. 202.