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2012.104.21

Blouse, huipil, of white and purple stripes, with embroidered birds around the neck. [FB 05/03/2014]

2012.104.21

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Collection type
Object
Description
Blouse, huipil, of white and purple stripes, with embroidered birds around the neck. [FB 05/03/2014]
Long description
Blouse, huipil, of white and purple stripes, with embroidered birds around the neck. The huipil has a square neck, made from two pieces of woven cotton fabric, joined together with white cotton thread. The fabric is woven in white and purple stripes, and all additional decoration is hand embroidered. The decoration is the same on the front and back of the huipil, and consists of three rows of fantastic birds of a variety of types, in all different colours. Between the rows of birds, and over the shoulders, are bands of embroidered zigzags in different colours, but predominantly purple and brown. Around the neck there is more embroidery, including rows of heavy chain stitch and a band of spots in buttonhole stitch, all in different colours. [FB 05/03/2014]
Geographical reference
Guatemala
Latin America and the Caribbean > Central America > Guatemala
Sololá State Lake Atitlan Santiago Atitlan
Cultural groups
Maya
Person
Maker Unknown Maker
Field collector Dai Williams
PRM source Dai Williams
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1980
Date collected
By 1980
Acquisition information
Donated: 03/07/2013
Materials and processes
Material Cotton Seed Fibre Yarn Plant, Material Pigment, Process Woven, Process Stitched, Process Dyed, Process Embroidered
Dimensions
Width: max 810 mm, Length: max 870 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2012.104.21 Other numbers: 884 G818 A88 Q50 120
Research and responses

Notes, names of villages given by donor: "120. Huipile, Santiago Atitlan. Embroidered around neck." [FB 06/11/2013]

See figure c. on p.39 of Indian Costumes from Guatemala, by Krystyna Deuss, and p.66 of “With Their Hands and Their Eyes”: Maya Textiles, Mirrors of a Worldview, by Mireille Holsbeke and Julia Montoya (eds), for some examples of trousers very similar to this huipil.

Search terms: Clothing, Blouse

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