Spindle Whorl
Unknown Artist
10th–16th century (?)
Medium
Ceramic
Dimensions
H> 3/4 × Diam. 1 1/8 in. (1.9 × 2.9 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Implements
Culture
Peruvian
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Nathan Cummings, 1962
Accession Number
62.266.84
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and Americas, this modest ceramic spindle whorl hails from ancient Peru, dating to the 10th–16th century. Measuring just 3/4 inch high and 1 1/8 inches in diameter, this unassuming disk was a vital tool for spinning yarn—a spindle whorl spun at the end of a stick to twist fibers into thread, essential for creating the renowned textiles of pre-Columbian Andean societies. In Peruvian culture, textiles were more than fabric; they were woven narratives of identity, cosmology, and status, traded across vast networks...