Object Name: Weaving practice sampler
Cultural Group / Place of Origin:: Coastal Wari culture, south coast of Peru
Date: Middle Horizon, 600-1000 CE
Materials Used: Cotton warp and weft and dyed camelid-hair weft; plain weave with supplementary-weft float patterning
Dimensions: 24 x 23cm
Credit line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Wellcome Trust. X65.8791.

Four selvages are preserved, as well as loom cords. 

This small four-selvaged cloth was made as a practice piece or sampler by a weaver learning to create geometric designs in postivie and negative versions. Created row by row with supplementary, dyed camelid-hair yarns, the diamond pattern on the left side is made with red lines against a white background, while that on the right side is made with white lines against a red background. Having gained expertise with this sampler, the weaver could then apply this skill to creating the Wari-style square panels with decorated corners.

Source: Elena Phipps, The Peruvian Four-Selvaged Cloth. Ancient Threads / New Directions. Fowler Museum Textile Series, No. 12, Los Angeles, 2013