SANTA CRUZ L.L. HUIPIL- FROM THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS Start Price USD 32.25 Current Price USD 32.25 Time Left - Bid Count 1 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, August 31, 2008 End Time Sunday, September 07, 2008 Location sweet home, OR See more about 'SANTA CRUZ L.L. HUIPIL- FROM THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS' Description This is a seldom worn, 2002-Santa Cruz La Laguna Huipil. It is in excellent wearable and or collectable condition. The color is best matched by photos 2,4, and 5. None of them is quite right as the base cloth is a deep, reddish color, corinto, yet bright red enough to be ultra traditional. The pin stripes are the ultra traditional celeste'-brilliant Sky. The base fabric is probably that acrylic covered cotton. The feel is still not completely soft. This could be because it has been worn so little. I don't know.    I do know the weaver. The weaver is surely Rose's mom doña Elena. No one else keeps the warp tension quite so even. I can feel it. The triangle pattern decoration is embroidery rather than supplemental weft and is made of acrylic. The neck decoration is made of embroidery thread. The collar is a transitional collar. It has both the wide neck bead and triangles. The triangles are traditional. The wide band is an influence from San juan La Laguna. It is used more and more and by now probably could be considered traditional in Santa Cruz. This particular collar is a bit unusual. Picture 5 is the sleeves. You can see that the seams below the decoration have been opened. It means someone with large arms wore it. This detail is ULTRA traditional. I put in picture 4. It is the "inside". I use quotes around the "inside" as women wear them either side out. I also put it in to show the care of the work. There are very few places where the decoration thread is seen on the inside. Whoever applied the embroidery is very good at picking up the top of the warp thread so few stitches are seen inside. The pattern inside is very clean and subtle. I doubt it was Rose that applied it. I would bet on Manuela, next younger,  who is often less subtle than Rose, on the decorated side. It was made in doña Elena's family. It was taken in trade on something new to doña Sebastiana. I buy it from Tiniq'. I send medicine and vitamins from USA with Tiniq', to Sebastiana. A BIG circle of family and friends.SIZE: Referring to picture 1, the decorated back, it is 35 inches from upper corner to upper corner. It is 38 inches from the upper corners to the bottom hem. They are made for very small people. Large North Americans wear them comfortably. Santa Cruz is one of the Municipios of Departmento, Solola', in Guatemala's Western Highlands. It is one of the towns on the North shore of Lake Atitlan. The town is one of the few remaining towns anywhere without access BY MOTOR VEHICLE. There is no diesel smell! The styles of the town are less well known than cities and towns more on the tourist track. Picture number 6 is the woman I got it from. Maria-"Tiniq'" (tiniq' means small) is someone I met when she was 8. We worked together for 5 years at Arca de Noe hotel on the North shore. She cooked. When Lucia, 7, was off, she is good with tourists. So now tiniq' runs the place. She is the principal bread winner in a large extended family. Her mother, doña Sebastian, picture 8, created a huge clothing production system inside her family. The picture is from 2007. Lucia warps everything, does sales and works for Lord Eric. Tiniq' works at the hotel and does sales and quality control follow up. They both have several children to tend to. Sebastian is very ill.  It is probably her last illness. The sisters come to do the clothing business or I go to Tiniq's house in Sebastiana's compound. Does this sound like a Matriarchy? Yeah, it is. The men in that family, having chosen to continue fishing and growing corn and ritual activity generate Negative cash flow. It is WAY TRADITIONAL family roles! It is just the way it is and so women pretty much own everything. It only looks superficially as if men are running things. Picture 7 is Lucia wearing a very similar Huipil. Lucia is very traditional. Picture 8 is doña Sebastiana wearing something with a similar collar. Sebastiana is very traditional. She is past President of the Cofradia and is a person of vert high esteem.This is a very nice huipil that is exactly correct for its time and place of origin. The thread that goes into this kind of hand made clothing costs more than my starting bid. It is an unimaginable bargain. I know quite a bit about this kind of clothing so feel free to ask questions.Mail. If the winning bidder lives in USA, mail is free. The starting bid has an estimated cost included. If the winning bidder lives anywhere else, there will be some additional mailing cost. Iwill include that amount on my invoice to you when I have a real number. Place a Bid!