ancient sequins

The day before yesterday I visited a museum of gold here in Lima. They have a vast collection of metal artifacts from all periods in Peruvian history, but also a good representation of ceramics and some textiles. There are lots of coastal textiles made in cotton plain weave which in comparison to the elaborate embroideries and tapestries and double clothes are rather ordinary. But this museum had some of these plain cotton textiles-- covered with little plates of gold! Tiny squares of gold about a centimeter square, with tiny holes punched in, stitched all over the cloth. Wow. It was certainly impressive. Definitely made me have second thoughts about "plain" textiles. There were quite a few tunics with such gold ornamentation, mostly in little square flakes, but occasionally in large circles, or in figurative shapes.

It reminded me that a textile is not complete after the weaving or knitting... it is only complete when it has been finished and trimmed and is fulfilling its intended purpose.