Unknown Artist
This fragment, one of several in the collection, is a rare survivor of catastrophic rains that destroyed much of the Moche textile legacy and may have helped to bring about the decline of Moche culture. It depicts a serpent and a snail beneath a hovering raptorial bird-perhaps a snail kite, a type of hawk named after its favored food. The size of the motifs implies that the original textile was large; a mantle (a shawl-like garment) or a hanging are among the possibilities.
Credit: John L. Severance Fund
c. AD 50-650
Cotton and camelid fiber
38.7 x 29.3 cm
2007.2.3
Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023
Permanent collection