Title
Woman´s everyday wear from San Mateo Del Mar
OAXACA
Ethnic Group: Huave
Huipil, 2017
Made by Romualda Baloes. Handwoven on a backstrap loom, huipil of one solid piece of white cotton with purple stripes. Also included on the huipil are many small plants and animals in purple thread. 2018.20.a
Wrap skirt, 2017
Made by Débora Oviedo Salazar. Handwoven on backstrap loom, cotton wrap skirt of purple thread and white fringe. 2018.20.b
Belt, 2017
Made by Débora Oviedo Salazar. Purple cotton belt, handwoven on a backstrap loom. 2018.19.c
The traditional huipil of the Huave women of San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca, is woven in cotton with designs of sea creatures and using the natural dyes of the púrpura mollusk. Dyers would remove the dye from shellfish without killing them, but overfishing in the 1980s drove púrpura almost to extinction.
Our huipil from San Mateo del Mar, acquired in 2017, was woven with synthetic dye and we dreamed of a textile with the natural purple color. In 2021, Virginia Phillips donated a fabric woven from San Mateo from the mid 1980s. It is dyed with the púrpura and our dream has come true.
