Clothes pin (tupu)

1250

Cloth pin or tupu with the head of a llama on top. Possibly from Cuzco.This metal tupu from the Late Horizon (Inca) has the head of a llama at the end. The llama (and also the related alpaca) was the most important pet in the Andes. It provided meat, wool, fat and bone. In addition, the llama served as a pack animal and as an offering. Because of this great importance, llamas are often depicted in Andean iconography.‖ The tupu is a clothing pin used to secure the shawl (aqsu) that women wore. They were used singly or in pairs and came in almost all sizes and types of metal. The tupu was used much less on the coast than in the highlands. This can be explained by the colder climate of the highlands, where a shawl was needed to keep warm. Indigenous women in the Andes still wear tupus, although their use is declining.‖ In most cases, a woman would have a pair for everyday use (now often replaced by, for example, a safety pin) and a pair for festive occasions. Among contemporary Andean women, these are often silver, spoon-shaped tupus attached together with a small chain. They have often been in use for several generations.‖ The Incas offered small metal figurines that wore miniature clothes. Women figurines wore a miniature metal tupu with them.‖ The visible end of the tupu was very multiform. Many have a round, oval or crescent shaped end without decoration.