2001.262 Blue and yellow featherwork panel (Peru, Wari)

In 1943 workers digging near the Peruvian village of La Victoria found eight ceramic jars, each featuring a portrait face on its neck. The jars, which are some of the finest ceremonial pottery produced by the coastal Huari (Wari) culture, contained ninety‑ six feathered panels like this one. It is not known if the panels were woven strictly as offerings, but this was certainly their ultimate function. The tradition of offertory caches is one of the distinctive characteristics of Huari culture. The saturated yellow and iridescent blue feathers came from the blue and gold macaw, a bird native to the tropical forests east of the Andes. The making of featherwork, while tedious, is thought to have been well organized and specialized. The shaft of each feather was bent back around a cotton cord and then secured by knots tied with a second cord. The cords of tied feathers were then secured with stitching to cotton cloth.

Excerpt from 

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Panel with rectangles of blue and yellow featherwork (2001.262)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 29.

n.d.: John Huston [1], [2]

From at least 1969-early 1970s: Andre Emmerich Inc., New York, on consignment for the exhibition, "Sun Gods and Saints: Art of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Peru," Andre Emmerich Inc., New York, December 6-31, 1969 [1], [2]

early 1970s-mid 1990s: American private collection [1], [2]

From mid 1990s: Japanese private collection [1], [2]

From 2001: Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund, purchased from Ancient Art of the New World, Inc. (Claudia Giangola and John Menser), New York [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing provenance information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is Ancient Art of the Americas' invoice (dated May 3, 2001, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

12937070: UMO. Curator Carol Robbins discusses this feather panel.

253363177: UMO. [Caption] Blue and Yellow Macaw (ara ararauna). Source: Benjamint444, Wikimedia Commons, accessed: April 27, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-and-yellow_macaw#/media/File:Blue-and-Yellow-Macaw.jpg.

Apply to objects where number equals 2001.262