Uncu

Uncu (Unku^[1]) was a men's garment of the Inca Empire. It was an upper-body garment of knee-length; Royals wore it with a mantle cloth called ''yacolla.'' Women wore a long dress known as an anaku.

Uncu

Structure

Uncu was similar to a long tunic, ranging between 84 and 100 cms, with a 72-79 cms width range. However, the length of the highland and coastal garments was different; Uncu in the highland were sleeveless and longer than the coastal tunic. Kings, nobles, and ordinary people all wore Uncu. The design and motifs for these dresses were rank-, cultural-, and event-specific. For example, capac uncu was a rich, powerful shirt worn by Inca Roca (the king). Inca royals clothing consisted of ''tocapu'' an art of geometric figures enclosed by rectangles or squares.^{[2][3][4][1][5][6]}

Each garment was woven individually.^[7]

Material

Ordinary Uncu was made from cotton blending with various camelidae fibres such as llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña, but for royal use, a whole finest cloth (cumbi) was used.^[8]

Gallery

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  Uncu
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  Uncu
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  Inca tunic
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  Inca Tunic, 15th-16th Century

References

1. Dean, Carolyn Sue (1990). Painted Images of Cuzco's Corpus Christi: Social Conflict and Cultural Strategy in Viceregal Peru. University of California, Los Angeles. p. 227.
2. Cummins, Thomas B. F.; Anderson, Barbara (2008-09-23). The Getty Murua: Essays on the Making of Martin de Murua's "Historia General del Piru", J. Paul Getty Museum Ms. Ludwig XIII 16. Getty Publications. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-89236-894-5.
3. Feltham, Jane (1989). Peruvian textiles. Internet Archive. Aylesbury : Shire. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7478-0014-9.
4. Shimada, Izumi (2015-06-01). The Inka Empire: A Multidisciplinary Approach. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-4773-0393-1.
5. Vargas, Carlos A. González; Rosati, Hugo; Sánchez, Sánchez Cabello (2002). Guaman Poma: testigo del mundo andino (in Spanish). Lom Ediciones. pp. 57, 113, 122, 123, 146. ISBN 978-956-282-560-3.
6. Bonavia, Duccio (1985). Mural Painting in Ancient Peru. Indiana University Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-253-33940-9.
7. Murra, John V. (1980). The Economic Organization of the Inka State. JAI Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-89232-118-6.
8. "The Andean Uncu". LACMA. Retrieved 2021-06-03.

External links

 

Look up unku in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

•   Media related to Uncu at Wikimedia Commons