Tocapu (Tocapo or Tokapu) was a decorative artwork with discrete geometrical motifs. It was associated with Andean textiles, especially for the use of the Royals' clothing. Tocapu was also painted on wooden boards.

Motifs

Tocapu was an integral part of the various textiles used in the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. The designs were woven into the fabrics. In Tocapu, a nearly square frame inside a field is divided and subdivided into various geometric shapes.

Repeat Setting

A repeat of the designs was combined following the suitability, for example, of repeating the single design unit or forming a group of units, such as a band (for example, a band on the bottom of uncu) or sometimes Tocapu motifs were given in a scattered way also (without any arrangement).

Study

Tocapu used by Incas always remained a subject of research for assuming the existence of pictographic or ideographic writing.

About symbols and signs

The Tocapu is evaluated more than decorative values. Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui explained:

Gallery

File:Uncu inca wari.jpg, Uncu with Tocapu File:Chakana inca detalle textil uncu 001.JPG, Uncu with Tocapu File:Peru, Inca, 15th-16th century - Tunic - 1957.136 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Inca Tunic, 15th-16th Century File:Tukapu.jpg File:Paracas mantle, BM.jpg, File:Nasca. Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), overall.jp
Paracas textile
100-300 C.E.,

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. File:Paracas Mantle.jpg, File:Tunic fragment.jp
Wari textile fragment
650-900 C.E., Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. File:Wari tunic - Textile Museum - Washington DC.jpg, alt=Tie-dyed piecework, File:Tupa-inca-tunic.png, File:Textile fragment.jp
Painted textile fragment
1000-1476 C.E., Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. File:Shirt MET DT5094.jp
Chimu shirt
1450-1550 C.E.,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York. File:Chancay Sleeved Tunic with Flying Condors.png, Chancay sleeved tunic with flying condors

References

{{Reflist Inca culture Textile arts of the Andes