Mexican Indians Folk Designs

186950

Copyright © 1976, 1993 by Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz. All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions . Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto . Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 3 The Lanchesters, 162-164 Fulharn Palace Road, London W6 9ER. This Dover edit ion , originally published in 1993,is a new selection of illustrations from the two-volume Design MOl(fson Mexican Indian Textiles , originally published by Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria, in 1976. The present volume retains the general sequence of material of the original volumes, and the captions are based on the original text. A new Publisher's Note. derived from the original frontmatter, has been added. DOVER

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SERIES

This book belongs to the Dover Pictorial Archive Series . You may use the designs and illustrations for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project. (For permis­ sion for additional use, please write to Dover Publications, Inc., 31East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501.) However, republication or reproduction of any illustration by any other graphic service, whether it be in a book or in any other design resource , is strictly prohibited. Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weitlaner-Johnson, Irmgard.

[Design motifs on Mexican Indian textiles. Selections]

Mexican Indian folk designs: 252 motifs from textiles / Irmgard Weitlaner-Johnson.

p. cm. - (Dover pictorial ar chive series) A selection of illustrations from the author's two volume Design motifs on Mexican Indian textiles, published in 1976.

ISBN 0-486-27524-8 (pbk.)

1. Indians of Mexico-Textile industry and fabrics . 2. Textile design-Mexico­ Classification . I. Title . II. Series. FI219.3.T4W4425 1993 74SA'089'97072-dc20 7 ;) - -10 CIP

186950

Publisher's Nate

T

HE PRESENTVOLUME is a new selection of illustrations from the scholarly, carefully researched two-volume work Design Motifs on Mexican Indian Textiles by lrmgard Weitlaner-lohnson. The aim of the original and of this new version is to stimulate interest in the artistic creativity of Mexican Indian textiles by acquainting the reader with a large number of different design elements (and significant variants) associated with Mexican In­ dian textiles. Two hundred fifty-two designs, taken from motifs on textiles from twenty ethnic groups, are included. They have been arranged by ethnic group, in a geographical sequence from the northwest to the southeast of Mexico. A map showing the location of thirty-five Mexican ethnic groups, including those represented in this volume, will be found on page iv. The designs were transferred to paper by three methods : The majority were derived by reconstructing the designs on squared paper; some were traced directly onto paper from the source material; a few were drawn freehand . The captions accompanying the designs in­ clude the names of the ethnic groups that are the sources of the designs, and a description of the structural ele­ ments of each design and the type of textile from which each was taken. English-language descriptions of the textiles are given in the captions, in place of the tradi­ .onal Mesoamerican names . A brief description of the more common textile types, with their Mexican Indian esignations, follows. No attempt has been made to con­ y the extent of color usage in the production of Mexican 'an textiles, although the ethnic populations had de­ loped the art of creating and using animal, vegetable mineral dyes with great sophistication by the time of Spanish Conquest. Garment and textile types are common to all Mexican :ndian peoples. Among the most common-and most - corated-i-are the huipil, a woman's sleeveless tunic­ - garment; the jaia, a sash or belt worn by men and en; the enredo, a wraparound skirt; the quech­ tn itl, a woman's shoulder cape; the servilleta, a or rectangular cloth used for covering food or for ceremontal purposes; and the talega, a woven pouch or _ Almost all the designs of these traditional forms are

enduring place in the culture of pre-Columbian imagery and in many instances the encroachment of Western in­ fluence. Geometric figures such as triangles, diamonds, zigzag lines, squares, rectangles and to a lesser extent chevrons and parallelograms are often found singly or combined in repeating patterns as borders or as back­ ground fill-in for allover patterns. Bird forms appear in almost every type of Indian textile. They range from small simple designs to large elaborately ornamented representations of multiheaded eagles. Animal forms (dog, monkey, horse. bull. lion) are all widely used. Plant motifs are also used extensively, including the Tree-of­ Lifemotif, often seen as a free-standing design in combi­ nation with animal motifs, typically butterflies and hum­ mingbirds , and other plant motifs. In many cases, the motifs themselves have become so conventionalized or stylized that they seem unrecognizable. A traditional device, the ilhuitl motif, comprising an S-motif, is ubiqui­ tous and gives rise to many variations, including Z- and X-motifs, angular scrolls an d pirals. The breadth of expression and artistry found in these designs is a tribute to the Mexican Indian weaver's craft. The designs , passed on from mother to daughter, repre­ sent a visual tradition that dates back to the pre­ Columbian period . Although there are virtually no extant examples of textiles dated prior to the mid-nineteenth century, a strong link to the designs of pre-Columbian Mexican Indians can be observed in the representations of clothing in stone sculptures, figurines and ceramics. Many pre-Columbian designs are clearly discernible in the work of the twentieth-century weavers. The present­ day designs of certain Mixteco weavers, for example, bear a striking similarity to the stone mosaic designs of the Mitla ruins in Oaxaca. In the latter part of the twentieth century, this long and rich tradition of textile design is prey to the dictates of contemporary economics. In many villages it is no longer possible to support a family creating textiles on the tradi ­ tional backstrap looms, and the traditions of weaving are already beginning to die out with the older women. The present volume is an attempt to help preserve the ancient heritage of weaving and embroidering, as practiced by Mexican Indians, whose magnificent cultural and aes­

s-Celumbian in origin.

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_- various elements found in the designs are all . used and reflect the natural environment, the

cellence in the textile arts.

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Map of Mexico Showing Locations of Ethnic Groups

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