Subject: noble
Culture: Wari
Setting: Wari empire, Andes ca.600-900
* Kimbell Art Museum
"Peru, South Coast, Huari empire, Middle Horizon, A.D. 600-1000
Standing Dignitary
c. A.D. 600-1000 Wood with shell-and-stone inlay and silver ...
This rare Huari freestanding figurine is composed of intricate and densely patterned inlays of mother-of-pearl, purple and orange spondylus shell, mussel shell, turquoise, pyrite, greenstone, lapis lazuli, and silver (for the headdress) on a wood matrix. The torso is cloaked in a long ceremonial tunic decorated in an interlocking tapestry weave with three rows of a simplified and abstracted zoomorphic motif, which can be read as feline (jaguar or puma) heads, or as standing llamas. The wearing of a court tapestry tunic identified one's rank in the Huari empire, and the emphasis on the elaborateness of this costume suggests that the figure represented was a dignitary of some status. In life, tunics were worn as ceremonial garb, and in death they were placed over the wearer's mummy bale. In shell and stone inlay, the complex textile patterns of the tunic are inevitably simplified.
"The corpus of Huari inlaid material is very small. This is the only known example of a freestanding figurine entirely covered in the inlaid shell technique. The refined craftsmanship and wide range of materials used in its manufacture indicate the presence in Huari society of an elite that could afford and appreciate such a luxury item, which probably served to convey the social status of the owner. In this piece, the greenstone arms are drilled at each shoulder, possibly for suspension as a pendant."
