Early Nasca Needlework [Hardcover]

Alan R. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

This work concentrates exclusively on the elaborately embroidered textiles from the Ica and Nasca valley regions in south-coastal Peru. Focusing on the supernatural figures depicted in these vividly coloured textiles, it brings together textiles, ceramics and gold from museums and private collections around the world to document the techniques and style of Nasca needlework. It also suggests that the more widely-known Paracas needlework may have been influenced by that of the early Nasca culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Located along the country's south coast, Peru's Ica and Nasca valley regions are the focus of Sawyer's cogent and fascinating study of ancient textiles, which are imbued with a richly expressive narrative quality. For his research purposes, Sawyer portrays fine examples of ceramic objects and works in gold as well as the Nasca needlework, in order to best evaluate the powerful, dynamic iconography of Nasca imagery and symbols, which provide entree to this complex pre-Colombian culture and its riverine religion. Accomplished with a tremendous degree of technical proficiency, the works highlighted here are presented in a handsome, profusely illustrated format, making Sawyer's scholarly treatise both visually stimulating and aesthetically satisfying to behold. Alice Joyce

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Laurence King; First Edition edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856690881
• ISBN-13: 978-1856690881
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 10 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,404,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic ancient needlework from Nasca, Peru, August 9, 2001

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early Nasca Needlework (Hardcover)

Alan Sawyer has a beautifully presented book here. It's not heavy on text, but that is partly due to the fact that as the author states, there have been virtually no proper excavations of Nasca burials to base information on.

What you get here is litrely pages of gorgeous photographs of existing early nasca needlework that the author was able to locate in various collections. He has concentrated on pieces with a provence in the nasca or ica valleys.

This book is illuminating, but to get the most out if it you should look at a book that has been written on the earlier, related Paracas style in order to really see the differences between the two styles, as they are often confused in non-specialist books.

Beautiful, colorful, inspiring and educational. This book is a must for anybody interested in ancient peruvian textiles or arts or who just wants to see rare textiles that are as good as anything else produced anywhere in the world over the last 2000 years.