Two beautiful Aymara storage/ transport bags woven with a discontinuous warp faced weave in a checkerboard design. Very few bags of this type are known and these are as good as they get. Almost all Aymara bags made for storage or transport are woven using Llama hair yarns for strength, but with a simple warp faced plain weave structure in plain warp stripes. Such bags have since ancient been used to transport goods such as grain, salt or other dry goods and supplies through the Andes on the backs of llamas that can carry up to 90 pounds each on their backs. The structure of the bags offered here is one that was only ever woven in the Andean region. It was not found anywhere else in the world. It is a complicated and counterintuitive structure requiring temporary scaffold wefts in the areas where the colors change to arrive at a discontinuous warp structure. Interestingly, the llamas depicted on either side of these bags are woven with different patterning on each animal - just as in nature. These large bags look great hanging on the wall and make for excellent pillows or cushions that will last a lifetime. They are very sturdy. The beautiful fiber is soft and pliable. They only need to be stuffed and sewn up along the opening to function as pillows. i doubt that there are many such pieces extant. i certainly have not seen more than a dozen of them the last 40+ years. It is entirely possible that these may have had a ceremonial usage based on the difficulty and extra time required to weave such a structure. They don't look like the ubiquitous everyday Andean storage bags with simple stripes. Beautiful, functional and as good as i have ever seen them, they are top examples of a very, very rare type. Size: Approximately 34 x 23 inches.