Andean Folk Art Textile Wall Hanging
A vintage hand-embroidered Andean folk art textile offered by Snowdrift Antiques.
It is not marked but most likely comes from the Uros Islands floating village communities of Lake Titicaca which lie below the Andes Mountains and which are world famous for their intricate hand-made tapestries and weavings.
Lake Titicaca, or Lago Titikaka in Spanish, is one of the world’s highest altitude navigable lakes. It sits amid the Andes Mountains and borders Peru and Bolivia.
The people who live in the Lake Titicaca region are farmers, herders, fishers, and artisans. The textiles depict traditional forms of work and celebration - herders with alpacas, farmers plowing and planting, fishermen fishing, and men and women dancing. The textiles also show environmental elements such as high peaked mountains, farmland, villages, land and water animals, and lakes or rivers.
This vintage hand-embroidered textile features 4 horizontal scenes of typical Andean life. It is beautifully rendered in shades of black, brown, taupe, grey, and white wool yarn. The scenes feature symbols of deeply rooted Andean culture and are a way of decoratively preserving and sharing the diverse Andean spiritual and cultural history from one generation to the next. It dates from the 1960s. This is not a new tourist trade item.
This wall hanging measures approximately 22” wide by 40” high. It is sewn to a wooden dowel that the previous owner used to hang it.
This piece is in excellent vintage condition. There are no tears, stains, or unraveling or missing embroidery sections.