1983.335 Woman’s headcloth or carrying cloth (su’t ) (Guatemala, Kaqchikel Maya)

Chichicastenango, in Guatemala’s highlands, is famous for its handwoven textiles. The square cloths that women use, either folded atop their heads as sunshades or as carrying cloths for babies or various items, show great freedom in the choice and placement of motifs. Figures are whimsically treated; feet, for example, whether human or animal, are depicted similarly. Motifs often show unexpected juxtapositions and abrupt yet compatible changes in scale. This example is decorated with female figures in triangular skirts, diamond-spotted deer, double-headed birds, humpbacked animals, and elegant bird-topped plants, all characteristic motifs for a woman’s headcloth. The individuality of this weaver’s approach is apparent in the rendering of the motifs, the asymmetry of the composition, and the attention given to negative space.

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Woman’s headcloth or carrying cloth (su’t ) (1983.335)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 53.

Guatemala (nation): TGN: 7005493

Quiché (department): TGN: 7005490

Chichicastenango (inhabited place): TGN: 1016635

textiles (visual works): AAT: 300014063

textile materials: AAT: 300231565

weaving: AAT: 300053642

embroidering: AAT: 300053653

warp: AAT: 300227930

weft: AAT: 300227934

cotton (fiber): AAT: 300183670

silk (textile): AAT: 300243428

wool (textile): AAT: 300243430

wool (hair material): AAT: 300014074

supplementary-weft: DMA

pattern weft (supplementary weft): AAT: 300227866

supplementary weft (pattern weft): AAT: 300227866

supplementary weft (weft patterning): AAT: 300228486

weft patterning (supplementary weft): AAT: 300228486

weft wrapping (techniques): AAT: 300228560

selvedge (textile components): AAT: 300227893

three-selvedged (textile components): DMA

backstrap looms (textile tools): AAT: 300023507

textile art (visual works): AAT: 300386843

folk art (traditional art): AAT: 300056487

clothing: AAT: 30026639

headcloths (headgear): AAT: 300213003

shawls (outerwear): AAT: 300209991

su't / tzut(e) (headcloth / carrying cloth / shawl / kerchief / head covering): DMA

deer: AAT: 300250308

animals: DMA

birds (animals): AAT: 300266506

birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

plant-derived motifs: AAT: 300164599

flower (motif): AAT: 300375563

figures: AAT: 300189808

female: AAT: 300189557

woman: AAT: 300025943

skirts (garments): AAT: 300209932

Until 1983: Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher (d. 2007), Dallas [1]

From 1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Collection of Maya Textiles from Guatemala, gift of Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated December 07, 1983, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Museum Records. Topical Collections 2012.022 - Publications and Printed Material, 1963-2013. ID: 02/11/2012.022. Series 3: Printed Material / Ephemera. Sub-Series 4: Exhibitions. Box 12: Exhibitions: 2002 - Summer 2004. Folder 16: Maya Textiles from Guatemala: Highlights of the Nasher Collection at the Dallas Musuem of Art, 22 June - 16 November 2003.

This textile is comprised of a large, two-panel square of two widths, three-selvedged, seamed with randa.  It is warp-faced plain weave with warp stripes and supplementary-weft patterning.  The supplementary wefts are discontinuous, and inserted in a closed shed.  The patterning is two-faced, and features a red ground with narrow, evenly spaced stripes in dark blue and white; supplementary-weft patterned figures include large deer with diamond spots, women with triangular skirts, men with short pants, two-headed birds (the traditional double-headed eagle), humpedback animals, three geometric motifs, and two corn plants, each topped by a bird.

Apply to objects where number equals 1983.335