About Peruvian Textiles
Textiles are
hand-woven with cotton or alpaca, llama or sheep's wool; natural dyes are used,
many of which have been passed down from the Inca civilization, such as sauco (a
kind of blueberry), molle, airampo, nogal or cochinilla. The tapestries from San
Pedro de Cajas Ayacucho, blankets from Huancayo and rugs from Cusco are
extraordinary examples.
The textiles of today have inherited a legacy of ancient pre-Hispanic tradition combined with Incan images. The Ayacucho region produces many beautiful textiles and was influenced by the Nazca and Paracas people who were even before the Incas. The Ayacucho region of Peru produces tapestries using wool of both sheep and alpaca which produces a very soft texture and longer yarns.
Traditional vegetable dyes used by the Incas like queuleyshu (ke-oo-lay-shoo) are combined with other vegetable dyes and minerals for boiling the appropiate color. The condition and availability of some vegetable dyes vary from one year to the other depending on the annual rainfall in the cordillera. For the color density needed, some wools are treated up to 3 times or boiled in vats for days in order to receive the appropiate tone. The mineral cochinilla (ko-chee-nee-ya) for example is used for the color red while the colors white, brown and black are the only colors not processed since there are no vegetable dyes for these colors; they are natural colors that come directly from the sheep as such. other dyes includes eucalyptus leaves, beans and a spider living on cactus.
The tapestries contain symbolic images including birds, butterflies, and flowers that are from the Andean culture over many centuries. Peruvian textiles are diverse in their techniques and array of colors. Using a variety of vegetal and animal dyes, as well as minerals found in the region, there are close to 200 dyes available to use for the weaving of tapestries.
Although they can be placed on the floor, because of their soft texture, they are better as wall decor or even as a throw on a bed. If you have a special requests for tapestries, we are more than happy to search for a similar work by the artist if it is not shown on our site.
The textiles of today have inherited a legacy of ancient pre-Hispanic tradition combined with Incan images. The Ayacucho region produces many beautiful textiles and was influenced by the Nazca and Paracas people who were even before the Incas. The Ayacucho region of Peru produces tapestries using wool of both sheep and alpaca which produces a very soft texture and longer yarns.
Traditional vegetable dyes used by the Incas like queuleyshu (ke-oo-lay-shoo) are combined with other vegetable dyes and minerals for boiling the appropiate color. The condition and availability of some vegetable dyes vary from one year to the other depending on the annual rainfall in the cordillera. For the color density needed, some wools are treated up to 3 times or boiled in vats for days in order to receive the appropiate tone. The mineral cochinilla (ko-chee-nee-ya) for example is used for the color red while the colors white, brown and black are the only colors not processed since there are no vegetable dyes for these colors; they are natural colors that come directly from the sheep as such. other dyes includes eucalyptus leaves, beans and a spider living on cactus.
The tapestries contain symbolic images including birds, butterflies, and flowers that are from the Andean culture over many centuries. Peruvian textiles are diverse in their techniques and array of colors. Using a variety of vegetal and animal dyes, as well as minerals found in the region, there are close to 200 dyes available to use for the weaving of tapestries.
Although they can be placed on the floor, because of their soft texture, they are better as wall decor or even as a throw on a bed. If you have a special requests for tapestries, we are more than happy to search for a similar work by the artist if it is not shown on our site.
