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Maker(s):Unknown
Culture:Pre-Columbian, Chimu culture
Title:Weaver's Workbasket and Implements
Date Made:1100-1534; Late Intermediate Period
Type:Tool - Textile Working
Materials:Basket: plaited totora reeds over split canes; Contents: five wooden spindles, bobbins (camelid fiber and cotton); five stone spindle whorls, unspun camelid fiber and cotton
Place Made:South America; Peru; North Coast
Measurements:overall: 2 3/4 in x 12 1/4 in x 8 in; 6.985 cm x 31.115 cm x 20.32 cm
Accession Number:  AC M.1940.3
Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. George D. Pratt (Vera Hale)
Museum Collection:  Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
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Label Text:
Weaver workbaskets generally come from women's tombs, suggesting the important role of women in the production of textiles for the elite and their position in Chimu society. The materials and tools in this basket illustrate a complete range of textile production: raw fiber, spindle whorls used to make fine thread, bobbins wound with thread to produce woven designs, and needles for sewing and embroidery. The small scale of the tools and fine thread suggest the weaver's high degree of skill. Even the tools are finely finished and decorated. esigns such as birds, fish, humanoids, and geometric motifs complement the motifs used in the textiles themselves. The standardized form and content of surviving workbaskets illustrate the ritual as well as utilitarian importance of textile production in pre-Columbian civilizations.

Tags:
domestic space; indigenous people; tools; women; labor; workers; still lifes; crafts; craftsmen

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+M.1940.3

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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