Unidentified artist
Man’s Processional Tunic (Uncu) (Túnica procesional masculina [uncu])late 17th–early 18th century

Not on view

Close-up detail of a woven textile with a dense diagonal twill weave in deep black, showing subtle texture variation and fine fiber irregularities across the surface.

Embroidered textile panel on black cloth, featuring a central multi-tiered tower or temple structure in blue and red, flanked by yellow mythical animal figures, decorative flags, and dense floral motifs; multicolored geometric border along the bottom hem with small bead fringe, and a narrow woven band extending from the top center.

Textile embroidery on black fabric depicting a frontal ceremonial figure with elaborate headdress, collar of white beads, and outstretched wings or arms in red, blue, and multicolor threads; flanked by brown deer or camelid figures in yellow and white below.

Black textile with a vertical embroidered band descending from a blue looped cord at the neckline, transitioning through yellow and red stripes to a rectangular panel with dense geometric diamond patterns in red, white, and yellow.

Embroidered textile on black fabric featuring densely stitched motifs in red, blue, yellow, and white, including a multi-tiered tower at left, striped cylindrical forms, decorative banners, floral scrollwork, and a caparisoned animal at lower right.

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: Man’s Processional Tunic (Uncu) (Túnica procesional masculina [uncu])
Place Made: Peru, Cuzco
Date Made: late 17th–early 18th century
Medium: Camelid-fiber plain weave with silk and metallic thread embroidery and glass beads
Dimensions: 30 1/2 × 36 in. (77.5 × 91.4 cm)
Credit Line: Art Museum Council Fund
Accession Number: M.2007.68
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: Embroidered black tunics (uncus) were worn by the Indigenous nobility during the celebration of Corpus Christi. Made of local yarns (likely alpaca), this example was woven on traditional Andean looms used in the highlands for hundreds of years. The sides are ornamented with a mascaypacha—the red fringe symbolic of Inca kingship worn at the forehead, while bands of tocapu (a form of rank insignia) mark the edges. These motifs, alongside the lions and castles of Spanish heraldry, symbolized the wearer’s high standing and loyalty to the Spanish crown. The tunic was woven with a special technique meant to catch the light and glisten, further endowing its wearer with special status. Contemporary paintings show Inca aristocrats wearing similar embroidered tunics in the important religious procession of Corpus Christi.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Elena Phipps in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 32, pp. 170–74)
Provenance: Mrs. Grace of the William Russell Grace family (probably Lillius Gilchrist Grace [1839–1922]), New York, first quarter of the 20th century; William Russell Grace family, New York, 1922; Sotheby’s East, New York, early 1970s; private collection, early 1970s; Textile Arts Inc. (Mary Hunt Kahlenberg), Santa Fe, New Mexico; LACMA, 2007.
Selected Bibliography: Phipps, Elena. "Woven Brilliance: Approaching Color in Andean Textile Traditions." The Textile Museum Journal 47 (2020): 28-69.
Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History: Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World. November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World. November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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