Luxury, Labor and Meaning

In pre-Columbian societies textiles were not only items of great beauty and luxury representing many months, sometimes years of arduous labor, they also held sacred information encoded through specific colors, patterns and imagery. They were owned by the ruling class; individuals who were venerated as keepers of deep spiritual meaning and power.

Today, though much of their symbolism is unintelligible, the sense that the weavings hold significant information is palpable. Over a millennia later, they still feel important.

The recent acquisitions below survived in remarkable condition and show stunning workmanship, but they also seem to hold something more; a message.

                 

                                                                                                                 Kain Lawons

Kain Lawons are woman’s silk shoulder cloths from the Island of Sumatra. They were primarily created in vibrant two color concentric rectangles or three color diamond compositions using a resist technique similar to tie-dye. The selvedge silk panels are folded, a dividing line is hand stitched, the thread is pulled tight (a method called “tritik”) and either side of the stitch is dyed, resulting in deep soft-edged color fields that are often likened to the paintings of Rothko.

These rich silks were worn by Indonesian women as a symbol of status and often included in a bride’s dowry. They have also been seen hung above newly constructed homes as an omen of prosperity.

                               

All over the world early humans fashioned stone tools. These implements of agriculture, architecture, status and warfare drove the advancement of civilization and gave rise to the culture of innovation humans exist in today.

The stone pieces below are ceremonial versions of utilitarian objects. To the people that used them, they served to connect vital aspects of daily life with the spiritual powers they believed governed them. Today they connect our modern notions of beauty (through essential sculptural form) with the history of human ingenuity.

The first masks likely evolved from face painting in the Neolithic period. Since then, various types of masks have been used in nearly every part of the world. Masks are worn for protection, disguise, performance, ritual and in burial practices. Others are not worn, but represent the faces of gods, saints or ancestors; sacred effigies to be revered or worshiped.

 

It is difficult to define the term ‘presence’ in the context of a sculptural object. Some pieces seem to inhabit an area larger then their physical dimensions would suggest. They command their surroundings and draw attention as if magnetic.

The carved stone pieces below are all examples of such presence. Each is large and heavy as pre-Columbian objects go, but they also possess a gravity that cannot be measured; the power to hold a space. Unfortunately photography is inadequate to capture the dynamism of such works, but imagine any of these in the center of a broad empty table or atop a tall plinth in a light filled entry and you can begin to grasp their ability to expand and enliven the spaces they inhabit.

Among the many masks produced by pre-Columbian cultures, those made by the Condorhuasi-Alamito people are some of the most distinct in style and character. Their unmistakable features include a pronounced brow ridge, angular nose, and three drilled holes forming the eyes and mouth. Although similar in their simplicity and form, they take on striking individuality. Variations of stone type and subtle changes in proportion give each a unique disposition.

The Alamito inhabited the region in Northern Argentina around what is now the Catamarca province. Archaeologists believe the Alamito were part of an expansive trade network that also included the important site of Tiwanaku, near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Their use of rich blue Lapis Lazuli, a material probably sourced from the central coast of Chile (approximately 300 miles West), also speaks to the Alamito’s far reaching commerce.

                                                                                                                                The Immortal Feline

The lords of the ancient world sought to connect themselves with symbols of physical, supernatural and visual power. So, it’s no surprise that predatory cats were a key motif in many artistic traditions of Pre-Columbian people across Central and South America.

As hunters, big cats embody strength and agility inspiring awe and fear. Their elusive nature and nocturnal stealth give them a ghost like mystique, while in daylight they sport some of the most vivid coats in the animal kingdom. To reinforce the connection between powerful felines and the shamanic ruling classes the ancients adorned ceremonial weavings, stone work, metal work and ceramics with depictions of Jaguar, Panther and Puma.

Perhaps Pre-Columbian lords desired to become cats. Attempting, as with the Olmec Were-jaguar transformational masks, to commune with feline spirits and morph into their bodies. Indeed, illustrations made by the Mayans show deities and rulers wearing Jaguar furs. In Peru, the Nasca and Huari used Tie-Dye techniques to adorn textiles with spotted patterns, allowing the wearer to visually and symbolically enter the skin of the Jaguar.