Ancient Peruvian Featherworks

On View At The Met To Sept. 1

ANCIENT PERUVIAN FEATHERWORKS ON VIEW AT THE MET TO SEPT. 1

AVV 4-30 #737738

NEW YORK CITY — The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents “Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork Of Ancient Peru” on view at the Metropolitan Museum to September 1 in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

An unprecedented exhibition of luxury items from ancient Peru, embellished with brilliantly colored feathers of Amazonian rainforest birds includes more than 70 works from public and private collections in the United States and the Metropolitan’s own holdings — many of which have never been displayed before. The exhibition explores the more than 2,000-year-old tradition of sophisticated feather-working that prospered in ancient Peru.

Ancient Peruvian featherworks are a little-known art form, even among those who appreciate the extraordinary textile arts of pre-Columbian Peru, and little consideration is awarded to them in the archaeological literature. Well-preserved works are rare because of the extremely fragile nature of feathers — organic materials, such as feathers, do not survive burial well — and only occasionally are examples included in exhibitions on pre-Columbian art from Peru. This exhibition is the first in an American art museum to focus exclusively on these delicate works.

A few works in the exhibition date from a couple of centuries before and after the beginning of the current era, but most were made between the Seventh and the Sixteenth Century, when trade in luxury materials flourished and feather-working techniques were well established.

The exhibition is organized by Heidi King, senior research associate of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

The Metropolitan is at 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street. For information, 212-650-2128 or www.metmuseum.org.