Spindle

About this object

Narrative

Collected by Mavis Balshaw while living near Paracas, Peru, c. 1968.

Cultural context

textile production

Physical description

Small spindle whorl. The long, thin wooden shaft is pointed at both ends, thicker at centre, where it pierces a clay bead. Encircling lines in brown, black and white paint decorate the shaft on both sides of the bead. The bead is long, round, and narrow, decorated with incised lines in geometric shaped, and filled with paint in white and orange.