Coca Bag

This very unusual coca bag was created during the reign of the Incas that lasted from the beginning of the 15th century to A.D. 1,532. The Incas created an astonishing Roman-like empire by war and conquest but also by other means, and this bag speaks eloquently of their powers of persuasion and their diplomacy. The basic red background of the bag, together with the yellow and blue rectangles, were created by interlocked tapestry--a characteristic Inca textile structure used for many forms of male garments. The ten highly animated insets though, with their colorful zig-zag patterns, were created by an entirely different utterly non-Inca technique! These insets are created by weft substitution and use entirely different colored yarns from those used in the basic tapestry of the bag. Weft substitution, and the zig-zag patterns as well, were characteristic of weaving done by the local people in the South Coast region of Peru.