2025
David Bernstein Fine Art is proud to announce our newest publication, A View Towards Fashion in the Andes: Ancient Pre-Columbian Garments and Accessories. The book features Andean tapestries, tunics, and accessories, such as hats and headgear, sashes, and bags. Andean textiles are among the finest and most technologically advanced known in antiquity. The intricate patterns and designs woven into these textiles at first appear decorative to the untrained eye. But they often hold significant meaning, representing the cosmologies and animist belief systems of the societies that created them. The textiles’ sophistication and harmonic design structure reveal civilizations that were highly advanced yet also in tune with nature and the cosmos. Textiles played a pivotal role in the daily lives of the ancient Andeans, who used them as attire for ritual ceremonies, indicators of rank and status, and as burial shrouds to facilitate the transition of the spirits of the deceased to the afterlife.
Textile arts and fashion influenced Andean life, giving rise to an extensive array of highly sophisticated weaving techniques as early as 1500 BC. The craftsmanship evident in Andean textiles is a testament to their advanced artistic skills. Techniques such as looping, netting, twining, and plain weaves were used. Through symbols and imagery, the ancient Andeans’ textiles conveyed stories of creation, deities, shamans, and zoomorphic human-animal hybrids. The process of weaving itself was seen as a spiritual practice, connecting the artisan with the divine. The Paracas culture is especially known for its beautiful, richly colored embroideries, complex weaving techniques, and elaborate imagery. Often used to wrap and adorn the deceased, these textiles are unlike those of any other culture. In the later Wari and Inca cultures, textiles were also used as gifts to establish diplomacy between neighboring villages as well as for different ethnic groups to identify one another.
This full color book features over 210 large color plates of individual Andean textiles, revealing a unique, in-depth look at the fashion of the ancient Andeans. These weavings have been carefully chosen by David Bernstein over the course of 40 years, beginning in the 1970s. Special attention was paid to unusual weaving techniques, and many of the textiles were professionally conserved and mounted. The book is available as a downloadable PDF, or in print upon request.
Click here to download the order form to purchase a full-color hard copy of Fashion in the Andes.
Price: $49.95
