Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles
Modern Guatemala
Title
Modern Guatemala
Collection Items
Ceremonial Huipíl (Blouse)
Since ancient times, Maya women have worn a wide, rectangular blouse known as a huipíl over a wrap-around skirt. This mid-20th century one comes from the famous market town of Chichicastenango.A three-part huipíl such as this would have been worn on…
Ceremonial Huipíl (Blouse) with Cuyuscate (Natural Brown Cotton)
This blouse, woven in the 1920s, ranks as the finest Maya textile in the Carlos collection, with its expanse of the natural brown cotton, the darker shade known as cuyuscate and the slightly lighter one ixcaco. Its deep purple-maroon-pink brocading…
Ceremonial Huipíl (Blouse) with Long Brocaded Center Panel
This huipíl is exemplary of early 20th century style blouses made in Chichicastenango. The sun pattern is actually sewn on by the weaver’s husband, as the sun is considered the masculine spiritual force. The black fabric circles represent the moon.…
Wedding Huipíl (Blouse)
Made in a very small farming village, Santa Lucía Utatlán, this wedding blouse displays clear Spanish elements. Departing from traditional choices, this wedding huipíl has only two panels instead of the usual three. It also incorporates an elaborate…
Cordeles (Sets of Tie-Dyed Warps)
Sets of tie-dyed warp threads (called cordeles) have been sold in the markets of Guatemala for decades. Without doing the tie-dyeing (jaspé) themselves, weavers can use them to make simple patterns such as in a small tzut. Cordeles in various stages…
Woman’s Ceremonial Perraje (Shawl)
More complex patterns are made with tie-dyed threads only in the warp direction, in the piece at left. For a motif with curves the tying off before the dyeing takes considerably more time to accomplish, and precise planning and manual dexterity…
Sacred Shamanic Cloth
This seemingly innocuous blue cloth with animals in red and yellow embroidery is called a pisbal kotsih. It resembles many of the other general-purpose cloths used by the Maya to carry babies, food, place on the head to protect from sun and cold, and…
Huipíl (Blouse) for a Female Saint or Effigy of the Virgin Mary
This miniature woman’s blouse was woven for a wooden santa (female saint figure) to wear as she stood or sat on an altar in a Catholic church in San Pedro Sacatepéquez. Dressing saints in traditional Maya attire is an obvious way in which the two…
Purple Corte (Skirt)
As a Maya weaver, or more often an entire traditional indigenous family, takes on more intricate designs for jaspé cloths, the planning and execution become accordingly more challenging. Even machine-made examples, such as this skirt involve…