He first visited the site on July 26, 1925, following a trail that had begun in 1915 when he had purchased ancient textiles in Pisco.

Between the graves the earth is littered with sun-bleached bones and fragments of ancient textiles.

"Nobody has ever seen any painted figures of this scale before on ancient Peruvian textiles," he commented.

Our knowledge of ancient textiles and clothing has expanded in the recent past thanks to modern technological developments.

In 1949 he studied ancient Peruvian textiles in Seattle and opened a studio.

All were chosen, Ms. Martin said, to show an affinity between these ancient Peruvian textiles and late 20th-century art.

Many museums place black curtains over watercolour paintings and ancient textiles, for example.

One of the notable collections of the MPC is the ancient Andean textiles.

Others are metaphors of ancient Peruvian textiles and Japanese kimonos.

Other exhibits include an interesting collection of torah finials made by Roman goldsmiths as well as a selection of ancient ceremonial textiles.