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RISDM 82-308-33e.jpg
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Guatemalan K'iche Maya

Su't, before 1917

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Guatemalan

Title

Su't

Year

before 1917

Medium

Backstrap-loom-woven cotton plain weave with cotton and silk supplementary weft patterning and cotton embroidery at seams

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • cotton

Dimensions

67.3 cm (26 1/2 inches) (length)

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Barbara Deering Danielson

Object Number

82.308.33E

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

From the Loom of a Goddess

February 23 - August 19, 2018

Made in one of the best-known weaving villages in the Guatemalan highlands, Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, these huipiles (women’s blouses of pre-Hispanic origin) and su’t (multipurpose cloth) illustrate how community-specific styles defined Maya traje (traditional clothing) in the 1800s and 1900s. The double-headed eagle, or k’ot, seen here in varying degrees of abstraction, turns one head to the sky and the other towards the earth. The central huipil’s neckline is finished with rays suggesting that the Maya woman wearing it would be like the sun at its zenith.

Hecho en uno de los pueblos tejedores más conocidos de la sierra guatemalteca, Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, estos huipiles (blusas de mujer de origen prehispánico) y su't (tela multipropósito) ilustran cómo estilos específicos de la comunidad definían el “traje Maya” (vestimenta tradicional) en los años 1800 y 1900. El águila de dos cabezas, o k'ot, vista aquí en diversos grados de abstracción, apunta una cabeza hacia el cielo y la otra hacia la tierra. El escote del huipil central tiene un acabado con rayos que sugieren que la mujer maya que lo lleva sería como el sol en su cenit.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Su't with the accession number of 82.308.33E. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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