Huipil

0

Typical short huipil or camisa of unbleached cotton woven on a hip loom, in which the thicker, single warp threads are crossed by two thinner weft threads in linen weave.The huipil is made of one wide (44 cm.) and two narrower (20 cm.) double folded pieces, which are joined together with red embroidery silk.As armholes the side seams are left open over 19 cm.; the small neck opening is square (12 cm.). From this opening over the entire width of the middle part (from behind over 15,5 cm. and from the front over 22,5 cm. downwards) a dense decoration in a diamond-shaped motif is woven in dark red wool, in each case a white cotton weft thread alternating with a coloured one (in krabba technique). Diamonds are regularly filled with a small pink or orange diamond-shaped heart. Striking is the in indigo-blue woven angular-wavy edge (2 to 5 cm. wavy from each other). \This central part of the decoration is closed by two vertical bands with instead of the waves a fish motive in ascending direction in indigo blue. On top of the shoulder, the two directions merge so that a double pattern arises twice, namely a fish with two tails. The band is bordered on both sides by a double stripe of 2 cm. red and ± 1.5 cm. blue, the blue at the same height as the fish and the wave band. The same line also delimits a vertical band along the neck with two orange and two pink fish bones in a plain red background. The entire central decoration is delimited by a blue-red-blue zigzag stripe, under which at the front another 3,5 cm. of the red background motif is continued. Also on the narrow strips (as it were forming the sleeves) on the shoulder the same background motive is woven in with on the outside between vertical stripes some blue in dashes (flat V-shape) (W. 13 cm.).This huipil is worn in the dark blue cotton wraparound skirt, see serial number: 4514-31. It was bought at the Sunday market of San Andres Chamula = Larrainzar on February 21, 1971 for 45 pesos = fl. 13,50.