Huari Culture 100 AD-1200 AD

This large feather panel is previously in the private collection of the Chilean surrealist paint-er Roberto Matta. The piece had been the muse of Matta’s artistic career, and constantly inspired Matta to explore the affinities between the his own cultural heritage and European modernism. Feathers were a rare and valued commodity imported from the Amazonian basin into the Pacific coastal regions. The journey in those times to collect the bundles from the forest tribes was not only arduous but also perilous. Such feathers being a great luxury were only worn by the dignitaries, priests, and warlords as symbols of status and power. From an aesthetic point of View, Andean feathers works speak more eloquently for themselves than a thousand words. It should, however, be pointed out that their sacredness was not a function of their rarity but rather, by association with the Celestial messenger, the Condor —Eagle, the wearer shared the supernatural powers of this divine intercessor, guide of the souls to the mystical realm of light.