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Belt

Origin Ecuador
Title Belt
Date Ca. 1945
Medium Cotton and wool
Dimensions Object: 25 × 2 1/2 in. (63.5 × 6.4 cm)
Overall: 25 × 2 1/2 in. (63.5 × 6.4 cm)
Credit Line Anonymous, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2014.34.6

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About this Work

For centuries, Indigenous communities have used belts (fajas) as practical accessories, often incorporating intricate weaving techniques and designs that reflect their cultural identity and history. Belts have served various purposes, such as holding clothing in place, displaying social status or wealth, and serving as a form of artistic expression. The highlands of Ecuador have a long-standing tradition of backstrap weaving to create textiles reflecting their cultural identity.


2014, Gift to the Indiana University Art Museum from the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Raleigh, NC

1998, Gift to the Gregg Museum of Art & Design from David and June Basile

1941–1948, David and June Basile purchase at a local market in Ecuador [1]

Unidentified dates, unidentified owner(s), possibly in Ecuador and/or other places [2]

Notes
[1] per documentation in museum records (Eskenazi Museum, registration file).

[2] We do not yet know how many changes in ownership transpired between when this artwork was initially made and owned to when David and June Basile acquired it. This absence of documentation on ownership history within Ecuador where textiles like this one were made and used is part of a larger history of collecting practices that did not record prior ownership among communities of origin.

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

August 26, 2023–February 18, 2024, “Textile Heritage in Central and South America,” Focus Gallery Exhibition, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

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"Belt | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2014.34.6