tocapu
{{Short description|Geometrical motifs used by Incas}}
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 designs were woven into the fabrics. In Tocapu, a nearly square frame inside a field is divided and subdivided into various geometric shapes.{{Cite book|last=Phipps|first=Elena|url=http://archive.org/details/TheColonialAndesTapestriesandSilverwork15301830|title=The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork, 1530-1830|date=2004|pages=8|language=English}}
= 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.{{Cite journal|last=Clados|first=Christiane|date=2019|title=Borrowed from the Ancestors: Tiwanaku and Wari Motifs in Inca Tocapus|journal=Baessler-Archiv|issue=65|pages=35-50}}{{Cite book|last=Silverman|first=Gail P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWFKAAAAYAAJ&q=tocapu|title=A Woven Book of Knowledge: Textile Iconography of Cuzco, Peru|date=2008|publisher=University of Utah Press|isbn=978-0-87480-909-1|pages=25|language=en}}
= About symbols and signs =
The Tocapu is evaluated more than decorative values.
Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui explained:
{{Quote box
|quote = Each town was referred to by a sign system well recognized in the Andes, the pacarina. Manco Capac is credited with originating this custom whereby each province and each town chose an object to symbolize its origin.
|source = Signs, songs, and memory in the Andes: translating Quechua language and culture{{Cite book|last=Harrison|first=Regina|url=http://archive.org/details/signssongsmemory0000harr|title=Signs, songs, and memory in the Andes: translating Quechua language and culture|date=1989|location=Austin|publisher=University of Texas Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-292-77627-2|pages=60}}
|style = float:none;
}}
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|{{center|1=[https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4717 Nazca-Paracas mantle], 1-100 CE, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn.}}
File:Nasca. Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), overall.jpg|[https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/48296 Paracas textile], 100-300 C.E., Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn.
File:Paracas Mantle.jpg|{{center|1=Paracas mantle, c. 200 C.E., Larco Museum, Lima.}}
File:Tunic fragment.jpg|[https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/59624 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|{{center|1=Wari tunic, 750-950 C.E., Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.}}
File:Tupa-inca-tunic.png|{{center|1=[http://museum.doaks.org/Obj23071?sid=797&x=5448&sort=76 Tupa Inca tunic] with Tocapu, c. 1550 C.E., Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.}}
File:Textile fragment.jpg|[https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/23987 Painted textile fragment], 1000-1476 C.E., Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven.
File:Shirt MET DT5094.jpg|[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312784 Chimu shirt], 1450-1550 C.E., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
File:Chancay Sleeved Tunic with Flying Condors.png|Chancay sleeved tunic with flying condors