Panel with stepped design
Place of Origin: Peru, north coast
Date: Late Intermediate Period, 1150 – 1450 CE
Materials Used: Camelid hair warp and weft (S-spun), some natural, some dyed colors; discontinuous warp and weft, plain weave with interlocking joins, warp-faced and warp-patterned edge bands (continuous and discontinuous)
Dimensions: 146 x 145 cm
Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Neutrogena Corporation. X94.27.11

Two panels are stitched together. Each color section has finished edges; the piece as a whole is complete with all four outer selvages. Bands along the edges are also selvaged.

The simplicity of the design of this large panel belies the fact that it is a technical masterwork. Each finely spun cotton yarn connects to its adjacent color, forming a completely interlocked fabric of monochrome design units. The stepped design is a symbol seen throughout the coastal region of Peru abstract concept is not known. The bright pink bands that surround the panel were woven at the same time, connected by common threads in the vertical direction, but stitched in the horizontal.

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