Tunic with Diamond Band

In the Incan Empire, luxury textiles such as this tunic played a central role in denoting status and prestige. People also associated garments with the life and deeds of their wearers. The imperial state collected tribute from subject peoples, often in the form of textiles. The imperial state also chose women from various regions of the Empire to become “aclla,” weavers for the royal house. The diamond shaped embroidery on this tunic is one of several standardized designs common in the Empire. According to art historians of the Incan Empire, a man would likely have worn this tunic. Because women were central to the state textile production system, it’s possible that a woman weaver made it. However, the lack of detailed, publicly available provenance information – a consequence of the Spanish colonization of what is now Peru – makes it difficult to determine the garment’s makers.

Tunic