ITEM 16443
Ch’uspa Coca Leaf Bag
Alto Peru (Peru or Bolivia), South America
17th Century
6.5 x 15 in / 17 x 38 cm
Alpaca; tapestry weave
A very appealing open coca leaf pouch, ch’uspa, featuring charming birds in deep colors, this weaving captures an early Incan-Spanish interface dating to the 17th Century.
It is a flat textile, never sewn into the bag it was intended to be. A related ch’uspa (but not as fine) in the Walters Museum offers an in-depth explanatory caption.
