All-T’oqapu tunic

 All-T’oqapu tunic. Inka. 1450–1540 C.E. Camelid ber and cotton.

• One of the engines that drove the empire was the exchange of high-status goods, which helped to secure the reciprocal but unequal economic and power relationships between the Inka and their subjects.
• Along with jewels, political feasts and gifts of finely-made textiles would also cement these unequal relationships.
• Textiles and their creation had been highly important in the Andes long before the Inka came to power in the mid-15th century. 
• Finely-made textiles from the best materials were objects of high status among nearly all Andean cultures, much more valuable than gold or gems. The All-T’oqapu Tunic is an example of the height of Andean textile fabrication and its centrality to Inka expressions of power.
• By the time of the Inka, an incredible number of variations on this basic technique had created all kinds of textile patterns and weaves.
•  Most Andean camelid-fiber textiles were made with the silky wool of the alpaca. 
• The All-T’oqapu Tunic is made of dyed camelid wool warp over a cotton weft, a common combination for high-status textiles.
• Collecting, spinning, and dyeing the fibers for a textile represented a huge amount of work from numerous people before a weaver even began their task. Some dyes, like cochineal red or indigo blue, were especially prized and reserved for high-status textiles. Cochineal dye comes from the bodies of small insects that live on cacti, and it takes thousands of them to make a small amount of dye.
• The textiles produced were then given as royal gifts, worn by the royal household, or burned as a precious sacrifice to the sun god, Into.
• Created by women; tradition passed from mother to daughter. 
• T’oqapu are the square geometric motifs that make up the entirety of this tunic. These designs were only allowed to be worn by those of high rank in Inka society. 
• Black and White checkerboard: tunic pattern worn by the Inka army, and shows the Sapa Inka’s military might.