Description

This is a huipil from Patzún, Guatemala. The huipil features a neck line surrounded by a rounded group of embroidered flowers on both of its sides. The base cloth has patterned stripes that are typical of Patzún weaving. The women textile artisans of Patzún prefer hand embroidery over woven patterning: simple warp stripes suffice as a background for their embroidery. They weave the striped base cloth in the traditional way—on backstrap looms in two pieces with a seam down the middle. A simple or complex hand-stitched pattern called a randa joins the two pieces. The red color of the huipil has different meanings, to some red represents: “el sangre de nuestros antepasados (the blood of our ancestors).” To others: “Red is the color of Patzún, our color.”