Headcloth of plain weave cotton and wool, and brocaded with wool, probably made in Mexico, 1870-1899

Headcloth of plain weave cotton and wool, and brocaded with wool.

1931 Description: Panel of cotton, loom embroidered in coloured wool. The panel is of crimson, checked in dark blue. In the centre, and in each corner, are five geometrical medallions in coloured wools, green, brown and dark blue. In the centre of each side is a single medallion. There is a selvedge all round.

1975 Description: Tzute. The Indians of Guatemala weave several square or rectangular clothes (tzutes or servilletas) either as part of the costume (headdresses, scarves, kerchiefs) or as utility cloths to carry food, money, incense, candles etc.. There are also ceremonial tzutes for wrapping around candles in a procession and other 'ceremonial' uses.
The ground cloth is basket weave. The pattern is done in wool in double-faced brocading technique (also called loom embroidery). This cloth is woven on a backstrap loom and therefore has 4 selvedges. There is also an area where thicker wefts are inserted which is characteristic of finishing a piece on a backstrap loom. It is interesting to note that the warp threads which form the lines of the checked pattern do not reach the selvedges in many cases, perhaps the blue cotton was weaker and broke often - the weaver tied the broken warp threads back with red cotton. This piece has interesting designs: they may be the 'eye' and the 'feathered serpent'. They are arranged in relation to each other and the whole cloth in the important 4 corners (4 directions) manner. The significance of the design motifs is discussed by L M O'Neale 'Textiles of Highland Guatemala' (Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1945)and L de J Osborne 'Indian Crafts of Guatemala and El Salvador' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1965).

Technical Details (1995):
Plain weave.
Warp: 32 threads per inch. (i) red cotton; Z2S; loosely plied so that it separates and looks like it is woven with paired warp threads; (ii) yellow wool; Z-spun, unplied; (iii) blue cotton; Z2S. Both the yellow and the blue threads have been arranged to form narrow stripes. None of these threads runs the entire length of the piece - those which begin at the lower edge do not reach the top and vice-versa. This is because the weaver calculated the dimensions of her weaving and cut the blue and yellow threads to the exact length of her finished piece. She then knotted them in sequence with the red threads and warped the loom. however, the blue and yellow threads slipped and double back on themselves at one end, while not reaching the other (personal communication by the hand weaver Anne Hecht, December 1995).
Weft: 31 threads per inch. (i) red cotton; Z-spun, unplied 3 parallel threads per shoot. (ii) yellow wool; Z-spun, unplied. (iii) blue cotton; Z2S. Both the yellow and the blue threads have been arranged to form a check pattern.
Lower Edge: described with the horizontal S-shaped at the top. The first shed contains 10 weft threads and the second shed contains 6 weft threads.
Upper Edge: The penultimate shed contains 6 weft threads and the final shed contains 10 weft threads.
Brocading: 3 different types/ colours of thread: dark red wool, green wool, dark blue wool. It is not possible to determine the spin, ply and twist with confidence, but it appears to be Z-spun and either 2 threads plied or 2 parallel threads per shoot.
Note: There is a band of weaving which begins 8" (20 cm) from the lower edge in which three or five threads per shoot have been used. This has been loosely beaten into place. It continues for 2.5" (6 cm) on the right and for 3.5" (8.5cm) on the left. This discrepancy is the result of eccentric wefts worked from the left, probably to even-up the two sides. There are 38 weft threads on the left between the 10th and 11th blue wefts from the lower edge but only 24 wefts on the right in the same area.

Bequeathed by Alfred Percival Maudslay, Esq.

When acquired this was thought to be either Guatemalan or Mexican. In 1975 it was catalogued as Guatemalan.
Chloe Sayer, specialist in Mexican textiles (personal communication, 1996): 'This is a Chinantec headcloth from Oaxaca, Mexico. It is a women's headcloth - the man's doesn't have the distinctive lines.'

The warp and weft of this woman's headcloth is red cotton with yellow wool and blue cotton arranged to form narrow stripes and bands. None of the stripes runs the entire length of the piece - those which begin at the lower edge do not reach the top and vice-versa. When using a backstrap loom, on which this textile was woven, it was usual for the weaver to calculate the completed length of fabric to be woven. In this case, the weaver cut the blue and yellow threads to the exact length of her finished piece. She then knotted them in sequence with the red threads and warped the loom. However, there was some degree of miscalculation and the blue and yellow threads slipped; they double back on themselves at one end, while not reaching the other. Dark red wool, green wool and dark blue wool have been used to create the brocaded patterns.

T.35-1931