PARACAS – EMBROIDERIES OF THE DESERT

New World Books have just published Bella Lane’s book on the subject of the ancient embroidered burial mantles of Peru, which date back some 2,000 years and more to the Paracas culture on the coast of Peru, several hundred miles south of the capital, Lima.

     Bella, originally from the Amazon rain forest, graduate of the Royal School of Needlework in 2009 and based in London for the past 25 years, has studied these mantles extensively.  They were first discovered preserved in the arid sands of the necropolis of Paracas a century ago by renowned Peruvian archaeologist Julio C. Tello.  Bella’s research over many years has included not only examination of surviving examples of the mantles in Peru, but also in the British Museum, in the World Culture Museum of Gothenburg and in the Metropolitan and Brooklyn Museums of New York.

    Additionally, over the past two years she has led a team of over 85 volunteer embroiderers to recreate  at Hoxton Hall for the first time a Paracas burial mantle.  This will go on display in the Paracas Museum in the New Year 2026 at a special exhibition, to be followed by other events in London and elsewhere.

     To obtain a copy of the First Edition please contact us.