Textile of the Month

Huipil (tunic)
Guatemala, dept. El Quiché, Santo Tomás Chichicastenango
K'iche' Maya
Early 20th century

Maya women in Guatemala weave and wear an indigenous garment known as a huipil. Each village has a distinctive style, and in Chichicastenango traditional huipils have a star-shaped appliqué around the neck opening and appliquéd rosettes on the front, back
and shoulders. This fancy huipil is made of labor-intensive naturally colored brown cotton with expensive pink silk patterning yarns.

In the early 20th century, Chichicastenango weavers often harvested native local cotton and spun it by hand to make their textiles. In Central America, cotton grows not only in the familiar white color, but also in brown. This natural brown cotton is called coyuscate in Guatemala, and was commonly used for huipils before the 1950s.

Chichicastenango has been a trading center since pre-Hispanic times and continues to host one of the largest indigenous markets in Guatemala.

Learn more about Maya huipils at www.textilemuseum.org/commonthreads/

Cotton, silk
Plain weave with supplementary-weft patterning, appliqué, and embroidery
62 cm x 96 cm
The Textile Museum 89.5
Gift of Alan Sawyer