Woman Weaving, from Guaman Poma, El primero nueva corónica y buen gobierno, Rolena Adorno and John Murra edition, Siglo Veintiuno Editores, Mexico City.
eginning in prehistoric times, artistic expertise was passed from parent to child. Over time artistic guilds, based on kinship, developed. Certain villages and regions were famous for expertise in metal work, weaving, or ceramics. Art and crafts, like all the other institutions of Andean society, followed the system of reciprocity. Artisans were in service to the state, which in turn subsidized them. Artisans were "taxed" by being required to create fine textiles, ceramics, and objects of gold and silver for the state. Styles and iconographic motifs were dictated by political and religious hierarchies.
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Artistic