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Appliqué Textile

Culture Shipibo-Conibo
Title Appliqué Textile
Date Ca. 1900–63
Medium Cotton
Dimensions Object: 29 × 28 1/8 in. (73.7 × 71.4 cm)
Overall: 29 × 28 1/8 in. (73.7 × 71.4 cm)
Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 63.106

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About this Work

This textile might have been worn as a skirt, though the appliquéd imagery appears in other media. Shipibo-Conibo people have a long-standing tradition of using a design system called kené in their textiles, ceramics, and body decorations. This system of spiritual graphics is considered a family legacy and a symbol of identity passed down through generations of Shipibo women. The specific meanings and significance of the particular forms and patterns used in their textiles can only be accurately transmitted by members of the Shipibo-Conibo culture.

Creating textiles using this design system involves a deep understanding of the natural environment, including plant dyes, patterns, and techniques, which have been developed and refined over centuries.


1963, Indiana University Art Museum purchase from Ralph C. Altman, Los Angeles, CA

ca.1940–63, Ralph C. Altman acquires, Los Angeles, CA [1]

Unidentified dates, unidentified owner(s), possibly in Shipibo-Conibo culture and/or other places [2]

Notes
[1] Ralph Altman (1909–67) ran an art gallery with his wife Pat Altman in Los Angeles from 1946–64. (Hamilton 2004). He then joined the UCLA Fowler Museum (then called the Museum of Ethnic Arts) from 1963–67. Altman did not provide the museum with any further provenance documentation about this artwork.

[2] We do not yet know how many changes in ownership transpired between when this artwork was initially made and owned to when Ralph C. Altman acquired it. This absence of documentation on ownership history within Shipibo-Conibo culture 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.

References
Hamilton, Roy. 2004. “Significant Collections: Asian Puppets at the UCLA Fowler Museum.” Performing Arts Resources (23): 58–72.

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

March 23–April 15, 1966, "Traditional Textiles," Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN

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"Appliqué Textile | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=63.106