





Sihuas Culture 500 BC-650 AD
Mantle with Stylised Ocucaje Icon, C-14 dating 50BC
Camelid Fibres
94 x 95 cm
37" x 37'4" in.
37" x 37'4" in.
SIH0001
Copyright of Paul Hughes Fine Arts
Further images
This striking and rare mantle depicts a central stylised human face. Projecting appendages that form the outlines of a larger human form , the rendering is accented by conventionalised human...
This striking and rare mantle depicts a central stylised human face. Projecting appendages that form the outlines of a larger human form , the rendering is accented by conventionalised human heads in the upper and lower bands. This highly stylised Sihuas mantle shows yet again the simplification and sophisticated geometrisation of these textiles, particularly in the later parts of the civilisation’s chronology. This panel shows an abstracted deity with rays emanating from it. It would have been oriented vertically, with the small squares in the central white square standing in as eyes, with abstracted tears flowing from them. Although the precise meaning of these weeping eyes is not well-understood, it was common in the iconography of later Nazca and other cultures. Variants of this rayed deity are some of the most characteristic iconographies of the Sihuas culture, with their degree of detail and realism varying significantly.
Exhibitions
Confluences: 4000 Years of South American Art, No.9 Cork Street, London. 2022Publications
Confluences in Art, Page. 127, Paul Hughes Fine Arts, 2019.Join our mailing list
* denotes required fields
We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.