Chimaltenango
Huipil fragment, cuello only
The piece is built almost entirely around the neckline, finished in an elaborate deshilado, a drawn-thread technique where individual threads are pulled directly from the woven cloth to open up a delicate, lace-like pattern. The flowers worked into the collar follow a long Maya tradition of using floral motifs to represent the fertility of the land and the turning of the seasons.
This piece is a more contemporary example, cut from a larger huipil rather than woven whole as an everyday garment. Despite that, pieces finished this way are used mainly for ceremonial occasions, where the density of the deshilado work at the collar carries the same weight a full ceremonial huipil would.
Chimaltenango
Huipil fragment, cuello only
The piece is built almost entirely around the neckline, finished in an elaborate deshilado, a drawn-thread technique where individual threads are pulled directly from the woven cloth to open up a delicate, lace-like pattern. The flowers worked into the collar follow a long Maya tradition of using floral motifs to represent the fertility of the land and the turning of the seasons.
This piece is a more contemporary example, cut from a larger huipil rather than woven whole as an everyday garment. Despite that, pieces finished this way are used mainly for ceremonial occasions, where the density of the deshilado work at the collar carries the same weight a full ceremonial huipil would.
