Chancay Male Figurine

Category: Conservation

This object from the collection of the Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a small figurine, crafted from cotton and reed, is dressed in an open weave tunic. It features one extended arm (PR) while the other (PL) holds three wrapped sticks near its “mouth” that are connected to a plied “necklace”. The face is woven from red thread and adorned with dark camelid hair on the head.

Cultural Group: Chancay
Date of Fabrication: 1400 – 1570 CE
Materials: reed with cotton and camelid hair
Dimensions: 23.18 x 18.42 x 3.81 cm

There was a complete break to the PR arm. The woven tunic was wrinkled with an area of embrittled threads on the front. Threads were unraveling in multiple locations.

Treatment included

The broken arm was repaired with japanese tissue, the object was vacuumed and any debris carefully removed, the tunic was lightly humidified to flatten wrinkles and loose threads were tucked in where necessary.