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TEXTILES

PRECEDED THE PONCHO

Unku. Yura culture. Bolivia. Early 20th century.


Full representative of his ethnic group, this unku was woven on a stake loom, with the warp face technique, with four edges, in a single cloth, using the resource of discontinuous wefts to form the mouth through which the head is passed. The material used is very fine handmade sheep wool, the field of which has been dyed with vegetable dyes, while the remarkable ornamental design was achieved by means of multiple small comb lanes, grouped in wide bands of different shades of the brown range. Four streets of colored lists enhance the qualities of this garment; its tones were obtained by staining with natural elements, including indigo for blue and cochineal grana for red. The same threads have been used for the wrapping that closes the sides of the fabric to make this "t-shirt", according to the denomination of the first Spanish chroniclers, and for reinforcement and ornamentation of the neck or mouth. Measures. Length: 75 cm. Width: 78.5cm.

 

Bertonio refers in his chronicles: “They have been conceived to be girdled at the waist by means of a girdle. (...) They were woven with several stripes that crossed it from top to bottom, of various colors and work, which generally did not exceed the number of five. They were cumbi (...).” (1)

 

The Unku is considered the ancestor of the poncho and has lived with it for many years. Today, Yura, Chipaya, Amarete and Colquencha are the four communities that respect its use in celebrations and ceremonies. In the current territory of the Yuras, a pre-Inca culture has been archaeologically detected, named after Ibarra Grasso. The studies of this archaeologist are based on the tombs found in the town of Killpani, a few kilometers from the urban settlement of that name.

 

Ibarra Grasso says about it: “All the tombs I visited in this region have been violated, (...). In one of them I found more than a dozen ponchos, blankets and T-shirts, etc., in a fairly good state of conservation.” (two)

 

Notes:

1. Cumbi: delicate and special fabric intended for officials, priests and nobles.

2. Teresa Gisbert, Silvia Arce, Martha Cajías: Textile Art and the Andean World. Plural Publishers, 2006, p. 283.



S.O.XX-GBMM

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