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Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art

July 18 - October17, 2009

The depth and breadth of modern Native American art is featured in Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art. From Alaska to Guatemala, the exhibition highlights personal expressions in ceramics, basketry, textiles and performance masks. These distinctive works are the outward expressions of personal and religious ideologies, commentaries on social and political conditions, and the material manifestation of cultural survival.

Nelson and Gretchen Grice have been supporting The Mint Museum for many years through donations of Native American artworks. The Grice collection features contemporary Native American pottery primarily from the Southwest; Native American basketry from the Southwest to Alaska; modern Maya textiles from Guatemala and Mexico; and performance masks from West Mexico.

The Grice Collection complements The Mint Museum's outstanding ancient American art collection and bridges the historical gap between contemporary Native American cultures and the Ancient American period, as well as, complementing the costume and North Carolina pottery collections by providing an opportunity to appreciate the differences of the differing traditions and to inspire local artists, which was the Grices' original intent when choosing The Mint Museum as the home for these artworks.

The exhibition is accompanied by a full-color catalogue documenting the artistic traditions presented in the Grice collection. The book's chapters discuss each artistic tradition and place the works within the broader cultural context in which the artworks were created. (right: front cover of Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art. Image courtesy of The Mint Museum.)

Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art is organized by The Mint Museum.

Wall panels and object labels from the exhibition

Introductory wall panel

 

Gretchen and Nelson Grice, formerly of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, have been intrigued by the arts of the Native peoples of our hemisphere for many years. Their collecting voyages took them to the U.S. Southwest, Mexico and Guatemala. Gretchen favored the textile and basketry arts whereas Nelson preferred ceramics and performance masks. They chose the Mint Museum as the permanent home for their collection to share with the people of North Carolina these artistic expressions from other American cultures that complement the museum's holdings in these media and create a bridge between the ancient Americas collection and the contemporary arts of their descendents in Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

 

[CERAMICS SECTION INTRODUCTORY WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

The Shape of Life: Contemporary Native American Ceramics

 

Contemporary Native American ceramics constitute an on-going dialogue concerning the past, present and future, embracing personal expression and cultural essence. These works and the underlying creative processes revitalize the individual, strengthen the community and ensure the future for Native peoples. The compassion, vision and spiritual energies embedded within these creations, made of Clay Mother, speak also to the world at large, conveying delight, inspiration and introspection, which is the ultimate goal of all noble works of art.

 

Pueblo artists of New Mexico perceive the forming of the vessel and its painting process as pious acts of prayer seeking spiritual energy, divine guidance and universal equilibrium. The vessels' stunning geometric designs or deep, monochromatic surfaces are more than decoration; they are personal supplications for spiritual well being and universal balance.

 

All vessels in the exhibit are hand-built without the use of the potter's wheel. Most Native artists mine the clay and prepare the pastes and slips (pottery paints) using local clays and coloring agents (plants and minerals). Firing is typically done in open fires and not in kilns.

 

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[CASE 1 NEXT TO SECTION INTRODUCTORY WALL TEXT]

 

Lonnie Vigil. Nambe, 1949-

Modified Seed Jar circa late 1980s

Micaceous earthenware

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.16

 

The firing of a vessel is integral to the creative process for Lonnie Vigil, the sinuous fire clouds on this jar echoing the rising flames and smoke clouds of the transformative fire.

 

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[CASE 2 TEXT PANEL]

Ancient Ceramic Traditions and Modern Expression

 

Contemporary Native American pottery links past, present and future. Its traditions are rooted in the earliest centuries of village life among the Ancestral Pueblo people (previously known as the Anasazi) (circa 200-800 C.E.), culminating in the magnificent Mimbres culture (800-1150 C.E.) renowned for its monumental architecture in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico and its finely painted ceramics.

 

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Corrugated Ware Jar 200-1200 C.E.

Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi)

Earthenware

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.95

 

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Adrian Trujillo. Acoma, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.5

 

This high-shouldered jar, with cloud, feather, mountain sheep and deer motifs, recalls ancient Mimbres pottery with its dramatic black-on-white painted designs. By filling the background with geometric forms created by tiny, parallel lines, Trujillo invokes the decorative surface effect of ancient Corrugated Ware.

 

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Ergil Vallo (Dalawpi, 'Colors of the Rainbow'). Acoma, 1959-

Seed Jar 1989

Earthenware with slip paint, incising

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.3

 

The indentations on the jar's shoulder resemble ancient Corrugated Ware whereas the incised imagery is inspired by fine-line slip painting found on ancient and modern Pueblo ceramics.

 

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Delores Histia. Acoma, life dates unknown

Jar circa 1950s

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.55

 

Delores Histia, among the foremost modern Pueblo pottery artists, pushes the boundaries of form and decoration, particularly notable here in the asymmetrical patterning of motifs based on traditional Acoma symbols of clouds, hanging feathers that evince rain, and the prayer bow (t´ewusu).

 

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[SECTION WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

The Rio Grande Valley Pueblos

 

New Mexico's Rio Grande River Valley is home to pueblos distinguished by ceramic traditions with varying degrees of artistic innovation or adherence to classical forms. Geography divides them into the northern traditions (Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, and Nambe), the middle traditions found south of Santa Fe (Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Sandia and Isleta), and those of the Jemez River Valley, a northwestern tributary (Santa Ana, Zia and Jemez). Independent yet interrelated, these pueblos are renowned for diverse creativity in ceramics and other media.

 

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[CASE 3 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

The Northern Rio Grande Pottery Traditions: Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, and Nambe Pueblos

 

The pueblos north of Santa Fe traditionally made red- or black-slipped pottery for domestic use. Yet pottery making waned during the early 1900s, but was revived by the growing tourist trade. Led by San Ildefonso ceramists Maria Martinez (potter) and Julian Martinez (painter) who pioneered the now-famous, matte-black on polished-black style, today's northern pueblo artists, especially those of Santa Clara and Nambe, are famous for innovative artists who create stunning expressions in clay.

 

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Blue Corn. San Ildefonso, 1921-1999

Bowl circa 1973

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.7

 

Eagle feathers, created by burnished and unburnished surfaces, adorn this bowl, by Blue Corn, one of the premier San Ildefonso artists.

 

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Anita Suazo. Santa Clara, 1947-

Squash Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.10

 

Anita Suazo's dramatic jars echo her mother Belén Tapia's famous squash-shaped vessels. Yet Anita's remarkable forms transcend naturalism as modernistic, personal expressions of shape and aesthetic sensitivity.

 

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Tina Garcia. Santa Clara, 1957-2005

Low-necked Jar 1996

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.69

 

Tina García is renowned for her high polished surfaces and has been called the finest polisher by many of her fellow artists. This vessel was commisioned by the Grices and remains among the best pieces in their collection.

 

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Margaret Gutierrez. Santa Clara, 1936-

Luther Gutierrez. Santa Clara, 1911-1987

Tall Jar circa 1970

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.119

 

The Gutierrez family is known for its modification of classical slips to create unique colors and a low-luster vessel surface which remains visually rich due to polishing with a cloth rather than the typical hard stone.

 

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Marian Rose Naranjo. Santa Clara, life dates unknown

Kevin Naranjo. Santa Clara, 1972-

Miniature Seed Jar 1994

Earthenware with slip paint, sgraffitto decoration

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.118

 

The sgraffito technique is an innovation of Santa Clara artists, first popularized in the 1970s. The precise detail and boldness of the design program belie the tiny size of this spherical jar made by two of the finest free-hand, sgraffito artists working today.

 

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[CASE 4 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

Micaceous Ware

 

Micaceous pottery, an ancient Pueblo ceramic type, was used primarily for cooking vessels because the ware is highly resistant to thermal shock. Yet micaceous clays challenge the artist. They are difficult to form into vessels because they easily collapse. The ware is vulnerable to fire-clouding during the firing process, and the clay's glittery quality can overpower the vessel. Therefore, micaceous ware demands artistic simplicity, aesthetic sensitivity and proper spiritual attitude to create a successful artwork.

 

Nambe Pueblo was particularly renowned for micaceous cooking pots. The style was brought back to life in the 1980s by Lonnie Vigil, who states he was called by Clay Mother to take up her work. His large, thin-walled creations display a nearly impossible mastery of this taxing medium.

 

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Lonnie Vigil. Nambe, 1949-

Jar 1995

Micaceous earthenware

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.86

 

Lonnie Vigil allows the firing process to make known its presence in the form of fire clouds. Yet their aesthetically appropriate locations intimate control-be it technical, spiritual or otherwise-over this uncontrollable process.

 

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Lonnie Vigil. Nambe, 1949-

Asymmetrical Jar circa 1990s

Micaceous earthenware

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.126

 

The asymmetical neck and fire-clouded shoulder recall the blown-out cone of a volcano surrounded by pumice and ash, reflecting the New Mexican landscape.

 

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Lonnie Vigil. Nambe, 1949-

Jar circa 1990s

Micaceous earthenware

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.85

 

The elegant yet simple form balances the visual power of the shimmering micaceous clay. Taking 1.5 years to produce, the artist wanted this vessel to come to North Carolina for local ceramicists to experience this special pottery tradition.

 

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Felipe Ortega. Jicarilla Apache, 1952-

Seed Jar 1995

Micaceous earthenware

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.2

 

Felipe Ortega reaches beyond traditional boundaries of decoration by applying horse hair to the surface of vessels prior to firing, the carbonized hairs creating stark yet sinuous lines that enhance the organic quality of his works.

 

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[CASE 5 - SUBSECTION CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

The Middle Rio Grande Traditions: Cochiti, Santo Domingo, and San Felipe Pueblos

Polychrome painting typifies the ceramics of the Middle Rio Grande pueblos. Santo Domingo Pueblo has flourished due to its early entrance into the tourist market and artistic efforts of the extended Tenorio-Pacheco-Coriz families. Its style, featuring classical forms and iconographic traditions, includes bold geometric designs and decorative images of plants and animals because religious precepts forbid the painting of human figures or sacred images on pottery made for sale. San Felipe Pueblo has recently revived polychrome painting to explore new modes of personal expression. Cochiti Pueble has a long history of producing figural works and painted vessels.

 

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Hilda Coriz. Santo Domingo, 1949-2007

Arthur Coriz. Santo Domingo, 1948-1998

Water Jar circa 1994

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.23

 

The distinctive Santo Domingo bird embellishes this water jar, its solid red and black wings and slightly patterned tail characterize the style.

 

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Robert Tenorio. Santo Domingo, 1950-

Seed Jar 1996

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.19

 

Made by the preeminant clay artist Robert Tenorio, this unusually-shaped jar is decorated with maize and other important flowering plants combined with symbolic, geometric forms.

 

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Virgil Ortiz. Cochiti, 1969-

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.6

 

The similarity of slip characteristics and the adherence to non-figural, painted imagery reflect the shared cultural heritage and history of Cochiti and Santo Domingo. Virgil Ortiz, renowned for his unique figural sculptures, also is an accomplished painter famous for refined design fields and expressive painted lines.

 

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Daryl Candelario. San Felipe, 1970-

Seed Jar 1999

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.105

 

The seemingly assembled fragments of independent imagery, some painted and some carved, resemble ancient potsherds pieced together to form a whole vessel, uniting ancient and modern spectra of clay artistry. The motifs include rain, the wotsana´we water bird, clouds of many types, and maize, which together comprise the artist's unified petition for the blessing of life-giving rain.

 

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Diego Romero. Cochiti, 1964-

Bowl late 20th Century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.124

 

Diego Romero adapts the ancient Mimbres narrative bowl to recount vignettes of modern life, here his famous transformation of the Mimbres hero twins into the Chongo Brothers. These alcoholic siblings stumble through the obstacles of modern life, especially alcohol that awaits the unwary, the brothers being metaphors for the world's disenfranchised.

 

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[CASE 6 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

 

The Jemez River Valley Traditions: Jemez and Zia Pueblos

 

After the Pueblo Rebellion against the Spanish is 1680, many people fled to the Jemez Valley and a symbiotic relationship developed among them. The Jemez people abandoned pottery making and focused on farming because of the fertile soils surrounding their pueblo. They traded for pottery from their Zia neighbors who had maintained the ceramic arts. Today, Zia potters are unique in their use of basalt temper which produces unusually durable pottery. Their works also are distinguished by a dense, black slip made from manganese oxide rather than the bee plant, the common pigment source for black slip paint.

 

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Eusebia Shije. Zia, 1936-

Dough Bowl 1988

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.14

 

Zia pottery designs are symbolic messages that pertain to the function of the vessel they decorate. Here, roadrunners, the bearers of prayers, and maize plants adorn this large bowl used to prepare maize or wheat dough for bread.

 

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Juanita Fragua. Jemez, 1935-

Wedding Jar 1993

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.24

 

Jemez Pueblo artists look to their own traditions as well as neighboring ceramic styles for inspiration. The double-spouted, strap-handled wedding jar is a distinctive Santa Clara Pueblo shape which has been adopted by many potters throughout New Mexico and Arizona. This vessel won first prize in the 1993 Santa Fe Indian Market.

 

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[CASE 7 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

Figural Traditions of the Middle and Northern Rio Grande Pueblos

 

A diverse repertoire of figurines was developed at the Rio Grande pueblos, especially Cochiti and Tesuque, to supply curios for the new tourist trade after the coming of the railroad in 1880. Helen Cordero created unique "storyteller" figures in the 1960s, but the type fell out of favor with collectors during the 1970s. Today, renewed interest has prompted Cochiti, Tesuque and Jemez artists to further explore the concept, each bringing personal narratives to figural clay sculpture.

 

"Rain God" Figures circa 1930s-1940s

Tesuque

Earthenware with post-fire paint

Gifts of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.27.1, 2006.85.27.2

 

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Louis Naranjo. Cochiti, 1932-1997

"Storyteller" Figure circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.7

 

Three children envelop this fine "storyteller" sculpture by Louis Naranjo. The white slip, characteristic of Cochiti pottery, requires many layers of application to attain its signature white surface.

 

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Kathleen Wall. Jemez, 1972-

Koshare Figure 1991

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.28

 

Kathleen Wall forever changed the "storyteller" figurine style by dropping its signature babies and transforming her figures into koshares, the sacred clowns who bring joy to the world.

 

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[CASE 8 {or combined with Case 7, but placed separately} - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

Figural Sculptures by Virgil Ortiz

 

The most celebrated of the Cochiti figurative artists is Virgil Ortiz. His clay figures are inspired by the 19th-century "manos", clay sculptures portraying the itinerant travelers, such as circus and Roma (Gypsy) peoples, who came through the pueblos during the early 1900s.

 

Ortiz' contemporary figures explore modern themes and the concerns of society at large. His remarkable earthenware sculptures, with their engaging gestures, energetic painted bodies and enigmatic messages, prompted New York fashion designer Donna Karan to invite Ortiz to collaborate on a DKNY line of clothes and accessories.

 

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Virgil Ortiz. Cochiti, 1969-

Standing Male Figure 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.64

 

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Virgil Ortiz. Cochiti, 1969-

Siamese Twins 1997

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.1

 

This captivating sculpture was made in honor of the artist's mother.

 

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[SUBSECTION WALL TEXT]

The Western Traditions: Acoma, Laguna and Zuni Pueblos

 

The origins of the western pueblos' ceramic traditions are found among the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) peoples who lived in the region as early as 200 C.E. until 1100-1200 C.E. when dispersed east, south and west. Acoma Pueblo was founded soon thereafter, and nearby Laguna Pueblo was established in the 1690s, maintaining close ties with Acoma. The three pueblos share life ways, worldview and landscape although the people of Zuni speak a different language, its closest relatives being found in northern California, and follow different ceremonial traditions.

 

Acoma, Laguna and Zuni pottery combines modern aesthetics with ancient Mimbres and earlier cultures' artistic traditions. These include bold, geometric black-on-white designs, red-slipped interiors and vessel bases, and contemporary versions of ancient Corrugated Ware.

 

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[CASE 9 - SUBSECTION CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Laguna Pueblo Pottery

 

Laguna pottery features broad bands filled with geometric motifs and the extensive use of red slip. Pottery making nearly died out in the 1970s but was revived by Evelyn Cheromiah and Gladys Paquin, the latter living in California for twenty-seven years before returning to Laguna and teaching herself the pottery arts.

 

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Gladys Pacquin. Laguna, 1936-

Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.94

 

Gladys Pacquin insists on traditional, open firings rather than using a kiln because she believes the kiln dries out the vessel and makes it look dead. She incorporates ancient designs but does not copy them, stating that she is simply carrying on the earlier artist's inspiration.

 

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Andrew Padilla. Laguna, 1956-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.18

 

The son of Gladys Pacquin, Andrew Padilla has embarked on a different aesthetic path. This squash-shaped seed jar is a fine example of his signature, high-polished white wares, stunning in form and surface quality, which reflect both Laguna and Santa Clara ceramic traditions.

 

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Myron Sarracino (Kaa Ooa Dinn Naa). Laguna, 1967-

Jar 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2005.119.6

 

This jar's dramatic black-on-white designs hark back to Mimbres pottery whereas the deep red slip painting of base and interior are a contemporary innovation of Laguna ceramic artists.

 

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[CASE 10 ­ SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Acoma Pueblo Pottery

 

Acoma pottery artists are celebrated for their revival of Mimbres ceramics, in particular the black-on-white style of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Fine-line, black-on-white painting, with accents of red-orange, is the hallmark of contemporary Acoma ceramics. Made famous by Lucy Lewis and Marie Z. Chino, exceptionally thin, parallel lines fill larger geometric forms that envelope vessels, and medallions with plain backgrounds feature symbolic motifs.

 

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Acoma

Large Jar circa 1915-1925

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.56

 

Streaky orange and red slips are characteristic of early 20th-century Acoma pottery. A medallion, surrounded by cloud motifs, enframes a large feather design.

 

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Barbara Cerno. Acoma, 1951-

Jospeh Cerno. Acoma, 1947-

Large Jar 1993

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.58

 

Made by leading Acoma potters Barbara and Joe Cerno, this jar's imagery features motifs pertaining to water, including clouds, rain and the wotsana´we water bird. The Cernos are famous for their exceptionally bright, white slip produced without the use of an oxidizing kiln, a phenomenal technical achievement resulting from mastery of slip preparation and traditional firing.

 

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Rachel Concho. Acoma, 1936-

Tiny Seed Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.8

 

Bold geometric designs in black-on-white slip paint adorn this tiny seed jar, the motifs inspired by ancient Mimbres pottery. The bold designs belie the small size of the vessel.

 

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Florence Aragon and Rachel Aragon

 

The popularity of Acoma pottery has prompted the use of pre-made greenware so the artists can focus efforts and talent on their visually powerful, detailed painting. Yet many distinguished potters, such as sisters Florence and Rachel Aragon, insist on hand-building their vessels to preserve the totality of the creative process.

 

Florence Aragon. Acoma, 1929-

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.4

 

A parrot motif adorns this high-shouldered jar by Florence Aragon, among the most celebrated of Acoma pottery artists.

 

Rachel Aragon. Acoma, 1938-

Jar 1989

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.54

 

The wotsana´we water bird, whose presence petitions the jar to never be empty, decorates this outstanding vessel by Rachel Aragon. Stepped clouds and inchworm motifs add to the rain-related message of the imagery.

 

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[CASE 11 ­ SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Zuni Pueblo Pottery

 

Zuni pottery is known for its delicate yet bold design motifs, especially animals which refer to seminal Zuni myths. Revived during the past thirty years, pottery artists have studied the forms and design programs of Mimbres and old Zuni pottery in museum collections as well as potsherds they find at long- abandoned settlements. Yet Zuni painters never copy the old designs but instead, as Randy Nahohai says, they create personal interpretations of what the old designs mean.

 

A unique Zuni element is a broken line somewhere on the vessel. It symbolizes a person's life still in progress whereas a completed line denotes the end of life. The broken line narrates health and long life, and only if a vessel is to be used in the kiva will some potters use completed lines.

 

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Anderson Peynetsa. Zuni, 1964-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.12

 

This seed jar's interlocked motifs embrace the artist's personal interpretations of ancient Mimbres and early Zuni designs combined with the crook-with-stripes motif signifying the ceremonial drumstick of rain (katsina) fraternities, the thin, parallel stripes portraying rain.

 

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Anderson Peynetsa. Zuni, 1964-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.13

 

Deer pierced with arrows signify their life force. Note the break in the double parallel lines below the deer which symbolizes life still in progress. The red and black stepped motif (with interior red triangle) was interpreted in 1924 as the design painted on the mask of the katsina (rain spirit being) T´elacoktipona ´´Wooden Ear´´.

 

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Randy Nahohai. Zuni, 1957-

Deep Bowl late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.17

 

Deer led the first Zunis to sources of life-giving water. The thick, black line below the deer is a prayer for damp earth (i.e. rain).

 

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[CASE 12 SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

 

The Hopi and Hopi-Tewa Traditions of Northern Arizona

 

The Hopi who live near northern Arizona's San Francisco peaks are descendants of the now-abandoned ancient pueblo of Sityatki. Long isolated from their Hopi cousins of New Mexico, they are distinguished by language and religious tradition based on the katsina, sacred spirits responsible for bringing life-giving rain. After the 1680 Pueblo Rebellion, some Hopi-Tewa people came from New Mexico, establishing their own village on First Mesa. Today they remain a separate Hopi-Tewa group although they long ago adopted local ceramic traditions.

 

The world-renowned clay artist Nampeyo revived old Sityatki pottery styles during the late 19th Century. She located original Sityatki clay sources and rediscovered ancient pottery techniques. Abandoning the white-slipped and polished wares introduced by New Mexican Pueblo potters, she preferred local yellow clays and direct polishing of the unslipped vessel.

 

 

[CASE 12 ­ OBJECT LABELS]

 

Dee Setalla. Bear Clan (Mishongnovi), Hopi, 1963-

Tall-necked Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.122

 

The yellowish-beige ground of this jar, delicately punctuated with darker blushes, is the hallmark of Hopi pottery. The artist masterfully adapts an Acoma parrot motif to his own style, the jar winning first place at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market.

 

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Sylvia Naha. Hopi-Tewa, 1951-1999

Seed Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.3

 

The motifs of maize plant, lizard, spirals and zigzags may be a petition for successful planting, an appropriate narrative for a seed collecting and storage jar.

 

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Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo. Hopi, 1934-

Jar, late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.41

 

Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo employs classical Hopi-Tewa pottery methods and designs to keep tradition alive, which is of prime importance for her as a potter, although she also continues her famous family's long-standing spirit of artistic experimentation and innovation.

 

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[CASE 13 SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

The Pottery of Mata Ortiz, Mexico: Reviving Ancient Casas Grandes Ceramics

 

The tiny town of Mata Ortiz, located in northern Mexico's Chihuahua desert, gave the world a remarkable ceramic style that suddenly appeared in the late 1950s. Created by Juan Quezada Celado, he was inspired by ancient pottery fragments of the Casas Grandes culture littering the ruins of Paquimé, a major trade and religious center from 1000-1400 C.E. Through observance and experimentation, Quezada replicated the ancient pottery. Sharing the discoveries with his brothers Nicolás and Reynaldo, they motivated many others, the village today being a prime center for the ceramic arts in Mexico

 

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Reynaldo Quezada Celado. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.72.

 

Reynaldo Quezada originated the famed tejido decorative technique which covers the vessel surface with an indented design echoing basketry or similar braided or woven materials.

 

 

Octavio Silveira Sandóval. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.11

 

This jar's decoration combines features of the two major pottery-producing groups in Mata Ortiz, the imagery adapted from ancient Casas Grandes and Mimbres pottery.

 

 

Nicholás Ortiz Estrada. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Rabbit Effigy late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.74

 

Nicholás Ortiz models figures of animals and humans that resemble ancient Casas Grandes effigy figures but are more refined in shape and design.

 

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Laura Bugarini Cota. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Tall Jar mid-1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.10

 

Among the youngest and most successful of the second generation of Mata Ortiz artists, Bugarini quit painting pottery when her novel designs and decorative programs began to be copied throughout Mata Ortiz. She moved to Denver, Colorado to work as a domestic.

 

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Hilario ("Lalo") Corona Quesada. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.9

 

Mata Ortiz artists adapted the matte-black and polished slip decorative technique first created by Julian and Maria Martinez in 1919 at San Ildefonso in New Mexico. They achieved the same lustrous, metallic black finish by using graphite ground from pencils or, more recently, copy machine toner.

 

----

 

Gregorio ("Goyo") Silveira Ortiz. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.7.

 

Slip paint and plastic manipulation, in the form of indenting the wet clay and burnishing the jar's dried surface, produce the decoration on this jar. The artist masterfully plays the shiny, burnished red slip against the matte black paint.

 

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[CASE 13]

 

[THE SCULPTURE by Elizabeth Abeyta (PG2003.63.125A-F) HANGS ON THE CASE WALL]

 

Navajo

 

Elizabeth Abeyta. Navaho, 1955-2006

Spirit Sculpture 1990s

Stoneware, raffia, beads

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.125A-F

 

Elizabeth Abeyta specialized in creating embodiments of spiritual forces that she called "Spirit Sculptures," based on traditional vessel forms reinvented as sculpture and adorned with a variety of non-ceramic materials.

 

----

 

Harrison Begaye (Haskay Yahne Yah, "Warrior Who Walked Up To His Enemy") Navajo, 1914-

Jar 1997

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.4

 

Landscape and natural forces are implied by the carved areas on this jar, creating a pictorial field that recedes from the high gloss surface.

 

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[CASE 14 CASE TEXT PANEL & OBJECTS LABELS]

 

Other Native American Pottery Artists

 

The pottery arts are not restricted to the peoples of the Southwest. Contemporary Native artists throughout the United States and Canada produce an impressive, varied repertoire of aesthetic and spiritual expressions in clay, often combined with other materials.

 

 

Anita Fields. Osage, 1951-

Figural Sculpture late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.128A-D

 

Anita Fields' female sculptures convey the spirituality of women and their familial roles, focusing on their inherent strength and love.

 

------

 

Jacquie Stevens. Winnebago, 1949-

Assymetrical Jar 1990

Eartheware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.79

 

The artist first dreamed of this vase, and although she tried many times to re-create it, her efforts were unsuccessful. Stevens reasoned that the vase was a divine gift bestowed only once.

 

---

 

Jacquie Stevens. Winnebago, 1949

Double-spouted Jar 1990

Eartheware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2004.126

 

This double-spouted form is inspired by the traditional Santa Clara Pueblo wedding jar and other two-spouted vessels from ancient Native American cultures. Stevens ranks among the first Native potters to produce asymmetrical vessels. This exceptional artwork won a first place ribbon at the Sante Fe Indian Market and remains among the Grices' best purchases.

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO AND GUATEMALA WHICH LOCATES THE MAYA PEOPLES REPRESENTED IN THE EXHIBIT]

 

 

[TEXTILES SECTION INTRODUCTORY WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

 

Threads of Identity: Contemporary Maya Textiles

 

Maya peoples of Guatemala and southeastern Mexico are renowned for their time-honored tradition of magnificent attire. Throughout the world, clothing transforms the biological body into a socio-cultural being, integrating the person into the community. Among the Maya, dress is an outward expression of cultural pride. Dress also conveys one's place in the world, signaling social identity and geographic origin or current community. It also articulates social structure, political affiliation and religious ideology by way of its decoration which comprises a symbol system of visual codes, the ability to read the messages reflecting one's degree of cultural initiation.

 

Today's repertoire of Maya traditional clothing, called traje, developed primarily during the Colonial Period (1521-1821) as a forced adoption of European dress. Yet elements of traje reach back more than 2,300 years. Today's fashions, as adaptations of imposed, foreign modes to indigenous couture, are testimony to Maya perseverance in spite of hundreds of years of colonization, enslavement and genocide.

Maya clothing styles generally are divided along language boundaries. This exhibition features fashions of the Kaqchikel, Ixil, K'iche', Mam, Tz'utujil, Chuj, Awakatek, Jakaltek and Poqomchi' from Guatemala, and Tzotzil and Tzeltal from Chiapas, Mexico.

 

 

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[GROUPING OF DRESSED FORMS WEARING TYPICAL GARMENTS & MANNERS OF DRESS - TEXT PANELS W/ OBJECT LABELS]

 

Women's Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Female traje retains many features of ancient dress with origins prior to 250 B.C.E., especially the wrap skirt (corte), waist wrap (faja), and hair bands (cintas) for typing up the hair and adorning the head. The primary Spanish addition is the requisite, loose-fitting blouse (huipil), although longer versions were essential to ancient formal dress. Today, Maya women take vigilant responsibility for the continuity of family and community life, their traje being the outward expression of this sacred duty.

 

Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Comalapa, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.62.1-3

 

 

Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cintas) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Bands) 20th century

K'iche'. Zunil, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.69.1-5

 

---

 

Unmarried Young Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

K'iche'. Nebaj, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.59.1-4

 

Unmarried girls often wear intricately decorated clothing which highlights her personal pride and hard-working nature, indicating she will be a good wife.

 

---

 

Girl's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Ixil. San Juan Cotzal, Department of El Quiché

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.6.1-5

 

Girls wear smaller versions of the usual female articles of clothing including the huipil, corte, faja, and cinta. This corte, made of jaspe cloth whose decorative pattern is produced by the tie-dye method, is typical of Ixil style.

 

---

 

Man's Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Male traje has experienced the greatest amount of change, the traditional loin cloth and hip covering being replaced in Colonial times by pantalones (trousers), either knee or mid-calf length, and held up with the faja (sash belt). A camisa (sleeved shirt), morral (shoulder bag), and su't (or tzute), a utility cloth of myriad functions from head covering to carrying cloth, complete the typical outfit.

 

Male Outfit (Camisa, Faja, Pantalones) (Sleeved Shirt, Sash Belt, Trousers) 20th century

Mam. San Martín Chile Verde, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.67.1-3

 

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[CLOTHING STYLE GROUPINGS - WALL TEXT PANEL AND CULTURE GROUP LABELS]

 

Styles of Maya Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Clothing style, which encompasses such features as garment type, size, color, and decoration, reflects indigenous (both ancient and modern) and Colonial concepts. Maya fashion has expanded during the last 200 years into distinctive styles defining individual communities. This is of crucial importance because the Maya perceive each town or village as a unique social and political entity which is the foundation of one's life. The myriad decorative programs signal the wearer's personal and geographic identity as well as conveying specifics of social position or office and religious ideology, thereby center ing the person in the social sphere and spiritual universe.

 

[K'ICHE' GROUPING]

 

K'iche'

The K'iche' and the Kaqchikel were the two dominant peoples in Guatemala's southern highlands when the Spanish arrived in 1524, the K'iche' inhabiting the northwestern heart of the highlands with their capital at Q'umarkaj. The dramatic variation in their traje (traditional clothing) styles, especially noted in huipils, attests to the extent and power of the ancient K'iche' polity.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Nahualá, Department of El Quiché, Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.6

 

---

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Santa María Chiquimula, Department of Totonicapán, Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.12

 

---

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

 

K'iche'. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.26

 

The huipil (blouse) is composed of two or three narrow panels of cloth, woven by hand on the backstrap loom. Hand and machine embroidery join the panels and reinforce the neck opening.

 

---

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Tecpán, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.29

 

This garment is woven from naturally-hued brown cotton, its resistance to fading making it a highly coveted fiber crop in ancient and modern times.

 

---

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Nahualá, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.64

 

Maya textile artists produce their intricate designs from memory.

 

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[KAQCHIKEL GROUPING]

 

Kaqchikel

The Kaqchikel and the K'iche' dominated the southern highlands of Guatemala when the Spanish arrived in 1524, the Kaqchikel living throughout the southwestern highlands. Their capital Iximche', from 1470-1524, survives as a center of pilgrimage and tourism.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Aldea Llano de la Virgen, Department of Sacatepéquez

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.8

 

Non-traditional colors, such as bright violet, green and yellow, are made possible by the use of synthetic dyes, commercial yarns and acrylic fibers.

 

---

 

Cofradía Huipil (Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Department of Sacatepéquez

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.10

 

The cofradía is a brotherhood of men, although there also are women's cofradías, who are responsible for the care of the town's patron saint. Cofradía ceremonies are serious affairs, and wearing the finest traje is required to honor the saint.

 

---

 

Cofradía Huipil (Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Santa María de Jesús, Department of Jacaltenango

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.10

 

The triangles decorating the neck opening symbolize the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlán, which the Kaqchikel believe is a cosmic portal. When she dons this garment, the wearer places herself in the center of the universe where Creation took place.

 

---

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Tecpán, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton and silk

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.15

 

Weavers adorn clothing with images of animals, plants and abstract forms that carry symbolic messages. The meanings vary from town to town and even among weavers in the same neighborhood, making it difficult for outsiders to decipher the visual text.

 

---

 

Huipil, Cinta, Faja (Blouse, Hair Band, Waist Wrap) 20th century

Kaqchiquel. San Antonio Palopó, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.11.1-3

 

Red became the favored color during the late 19th Century following the European introduction of alizarin, a synthetic red dye.

 

---

Huipil, Faja (Blouse, Waist Wrap) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Santa Catarina Palopó, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.24.1-2

 

Widow's clothing typically is of darker colors with little or no red hues.

 

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[MAM GROUPING]

 

Mam

Mam territory extends along the far western highlands of Guatemala and extends to the Pacific Coast. Their ancient capital of Zaculeu (Saqulew), from circa 400-1525, was a fortified city, its stone walls protecting the Mam, for a time, from the invading Spanish.

 

The color variations and different amounts and type of decoration identify the specific Mam communities from which originate these two finely made women's outfits.

 

Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Mam. Zunil, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.61.1-4

 

Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Mam. Cajul, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.60.1-4

 

The concentric diamond pattern adorning the faja (waist wrap) symbolizes the supernatural portal to the spiritual realms and positions its wearer in the center of the cosmos

----

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton,rayon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.17

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.18

 

The vertical zigzags on these two huipils may symbolize lightning or celestial spirits known as "sky serpents". The elaborate huipil, made of three panels hand-sewn together and embellished with brocade and embroidery, is a ceremonial garment whereas simpler, more subtle decoration distinguishes an everyday garment.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. San Pedro Neota, Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.5.

 

The embroidered and brocaded vertical bands adorning this garment contain motifs pertaining to fertility and cosmological ideals. They feature a fecund maize plant and celestial symbols including the sky, the sun, the sky serpent, and 'Heart of Sky', one of the portals to the supernatural realm.

 

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Man's Camisa and Faja (Sleeved Shirt, Sash Belt) 20th century

Mam. San Juan Atitlán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.32.1-2

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. San Juan Sacatepequéz, Department of Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.56.1

 

The different styles of stripes on these two garments identify their respective places of origin whereas the decorative motifs are shared among many Mam weavers throughout the region.

 

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[TZ'UTUJIL GROUPING]

 

Tz'utujil

The Tz'utujil live on the western and southern shores of Lake Atitlán, Department of Sololá, in the heart of Guatemala's highlands. Among the most enduring of their traditions is the wearing of traje by women; most men have abandoned traditional clothing styles except for ceremonial occasions although a revival of male traje is taking place since the 1997 cessation of Guatemalan government-sponsored genocide of the Tz'utujil.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tz'utujil. Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.35

 

Hand and machine embroidery decorate this huipil, the light purple dying of the typically white cloth being a recent innovation. The imagery, which features contemporary pictorial interpretations of day names from the ancient Maya calendar and the quetzal bird, the national symbol of Guatemala, links the past, present and future.

 

---

 

Man's Pantalones and Faja (Trousers, Sash Belt) 20th century

Tz'utujil. Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.33.1-2

 

The trousers' embroidered birds refer to the ancient name for the Tz'utujil Lake Atitlán homeland 'Place of the People of the Bird House', the 'bird house' epithet referring to their ancient political charter whose underlying meaning remains obscure.

 

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[POQOMCHI']

 

Poqomchi'

 

Huipil (Blouse) late 19th century

Poqomchi'. Tactic, Department of Alta Vera Paz

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.12

 

This older huipil (blouse) exemplifies the finest craftsmanship for ceremonial garments. Its decorative imagery comprises a rich narrative alluding to Creation myths, implied by the rows of male and female figures which typically refer to the Creator Couples, and other cosmic concerns symbolized by the deer and the diamond patterns. Also note the finely finished neck opening.

 

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[TZOTZIL AND TZELTAL GROUPING]

 

Tzotzil and Tzeltal (Mexico)

Living in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya are related linguistically and culturally. Their society blends traditional social forms and religious ideologies with Catholicism and Western institutions of colonial Spain and modern Mexico. Wool and cotton are used to fashion their distinctive garments. As in Guatemala, women frequently wear traditional clothing (traje) whereas men, who often leave their villages for wage labor, wear traje only on ceremonial occasions.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico.

Wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.48

 

The black color and red wool tassel are typical features of the traje style of San Juan Chamula.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. Magdalenas, Chiapas, Mexico.

Cotton, wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.24

 

The design's location and iconography distinguish the Magdalenas style whereas the maroon hue is a personal innovation of the weaver. The interlocked diamonds convey solar and cosmological messages, the double yellow diamonds in the center symbolizing the sun and the blue and yellow ones at the corners indicating the west and east cardinal directions.

 

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Man's Outfit (Pantalones, Ponche, Sombrero ) (Trousers, Poncho, Hat) 20th century

Tzeltal. Tenajapa, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton and wool, acrylic ribbons

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.14.1-3

 

--------

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzeltal. Tenajapa, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton, wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.43

 

The three decorative, brocaded bands include an elaborate diamond pattern that signifies the grand design of the universe.

 

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[CEREMONIAL HUIPILS GROUPING]

 

Cofradía and Ceremonial Huipils (Blouses)

Civil and religious rituals require garments of the finest craftsmanship and elaborate adornment encoding ideological messages pertinent to the ceremony, the weaver and the wearer. The ceremonial huipil, called a sobrehuipil, is a longer version of the waist-length, daily blouse. It is worn over the daily blouse during religious rituals in the church and those of the cofradía, the religious brotherhood/sisterhood responsible for the care of the town's patron saint.

 

Cofradía Huipil (Religious Brotherhood/Sisterhood Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Sololá, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk or rayon thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.23

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Jakatek. Almolonga, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, silk or rayon thread, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.22

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Todos Santos, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.16

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Cotzál, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.38

 

Wedding Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. Zinacantan, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton, feathers

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.13

 

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[ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL A]

 

Hair and Head Wraps

Hair bands (cintas) and head wraps today may be the only clothing item that signals a woman's village of origin because non-village-specific huipil (blouse) styles and the jaspe (tie-dyed cloth) skirt are becoming the national Guatemalan, indigenous costume. Hair arrangement and cinta styles also may carry social information such as a woman's marital status.

 

Wrapping the cinta around the head in concentric circles creates a halo-like adornment called xk'ap (pronounced shkap). An ancient royal headdress style, today the xk'ap

represents "rainbow serpents"-the halo that surrounds the moon during the rainy season-which are the harbingers of rain. Combined with its red color, the xk'ap makes reference to sacrifice and sacred liquids (rain and blood) that bring vital energy to the world.

 

Wedding Cinta (Hair Band) 20th century

Awakatek. Aguacatán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.5

 

Xk'ap (Head Adornment) 20th century

Tz'utujil, Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.15

 

------------------

ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL B]

 

Faja (Waist Wrap)

 

Women's wrap skirts and men's traditional trousers are tied in place and adorned by the faja (waist wrap for women, sash belt for men). Currently most fajas are machine-made and have lost stylistic features that identify place of origin. The decorative role of the faja, however, remains important to personal style which ensures design creativity and quality of production.

 

Faja (Waist Wrap) 20th century

Jacaltek. Jacaltenango, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.70.2

 

---

ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL C]

 

Su't (Tzute) (Utility Cloth)

The village-specific utility cloth is a multi-functional item used by men and women. The large su't is a carrying cloth for bundles of goods or babies. The smaller version, for carrying purchases and personal items, is similar to a purse or backpack. Finely made and elaborately decorated ones, such as the double-cloth example here, are used on ceremonial occasions. When not in the use, the su't is worn over the shoulder or folded atop the head.

 

Su't (Utility Cloth) 20th century

K'iche'. Chichicastenango, Department of El Quiché

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.17

 

Double-cloth Su't? (Utility Cloth) 20th century

Chuj. San Mateo Ixtatán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.63

 

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Perraje (Rebozo or Shawl) 20th century

Jacaltek. Jacaltenango, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.70.1

 

The perraje serves much the same function as the su't (utility cloth). In addition, the perraje is a cold weather wrap and a fashion statement. It is requisite for the well-dressed girl or woman, the finely woven and handsomely decorated accouterment elegantly draped over the shoulder.

 

----------

 

Morral (Man's Shoulder Bag) 20th century

K'iche'. Chichicastenango, Department of El Quiché

Wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.50

 

The double-headed eagle is called k'ot, meaning 'one head looking at the sky and the other looking at the earth' among some K'iche' communities whereas among others it symbolizes the god Kabawil, meaning 'double-sighted deity'.

 

The motif originated as the ancient Maya sky saurian representing the ecliptic (the path of the sun and planets through the sky) and the midday sun at the 'Heart of Sky' supernatural portal. Although the design recalls the European Hapsburg royal symbol, the diamond or St. Andrews cross in the eagle's breast affirms its ancient origin as a celestial icon.

 

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[CASE GROUPING]

 

Examples of Clothing from Classic Maya Ceramics

 

Drinking Vessel Maya , Late Classic Period, 650-780 C.E.

Motul de San José region, Department of Petén, Guatemala

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1984.237.12

 

Typical garments are worn by the royal figures portrayed on this vessel. The nobleman sports a loin cloth, hip wrap and faja (sash belt), The noblewoman wears a corte (wrap skirt) and a formal sobrehuipil (long blouse) of gauze cloth decorated with brocaded motifs.

 

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Drinking Vessel. Maya, Late Classic Period, 650-800 C.E.

Usumacinta River area, Department of Petén, Guatemala

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1984.237.12

 

Classic Period women typically wrapped their hair with textile bands (cintas) and added adornments of feathers, flowers, jadeite and shell, as in this depiction of the Maize god's wife, the paramount spouse.

 

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Seated Noblewoman Maya, Late Classic Period, 650-800 C.E.

 

Jaina Island area, Campeche, Mexico

Earthenware with post-fire paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1977.82.14

 

Intricate coiffures typify ancient and modern practices among Maya peoples in Mexico and Guatemala, which include fancy wrappings of the hair with decorative, ribbon-like ties (cintas).

 

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF MEXICO THAT INCLUDES STATE BOUNDARIES AND THEIR NAMES]

 

[PERFORMANCE MASKS - INTRODUCTORY WALL PANEL & TWO MASKS TO ACCOMPANY WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

 

The Transformed Self: Performance Masks of Mexico

Public performances of epic tales, historical events and religious narratives are a key part of modern life in Mexico. The dance dramas, presented in city streets and church plazas, embody a community's essential beliefs and common human problems while imparting moral lessons.

 

 

Masked performers portray the drama's key figures. The mask is a vehicle of transformation that physically and psychologically converts the wearer into a new persona. In the altered state of being, the performer steps out of his/her everyday identity and sheds the social boundaries of human behavior. He/she now operates as an uninhibited intermediary between the community and the message being invoked.

 

The works presented here come from the primary mask-producing regions of Mexico where dance performances commonly accompany religious rituals and civic events. Particularly rich in pageant traditions and variety of performance masks are the states of Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Sonora, Sinaloa, Michoacán, Hidalgo and Guerrero.

 

 

Composite Spirit Mask From Dance of the Saints 20th century

Guerrero

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.113

 

Fantasy Mask 20th Century

Veracruz

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.187

 

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[SECTION 1 - WALL TEXT]

 

Dance of the Moors and Christians (Moros y Cristianos)

 

Performance rituals were ever-present in ancient Mexico, narrating ideologies of state and religion. Forbidden by the 16th-century Spanish conquerors of Mexico, the ecclesiastics responsible for Catholic conversions realized the power of ritual dance to convey the new religion and Spanish authority.

 

Early Spanish-Mexican pageants recounted Spain's defeat of the Moors (Muslims from northern Africa), the Moros y Cristianos performances asserting the superiority of the Catholic faith. Today they display the greatest diversity of narrative and costuming, often merged with other famous Christian clashes such as Charlemagne's 8th-century battles against the Moors.

 

Similar dances narrate the Spanish conquest of Mexico fused with other notable historical events. For example, Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico, Charlemagne, Roman centurions and archangel Saint Gabriel battle the Moors and Lucifer. In Oaxaca, Tiberius and Pontius Pilot, or Motecuzoma, the last Aztec emperor, fight the Christians and eventually beg to be baptized. These pageants share the theme of the struggle between Catholics and infidels, symbolizing the defeat of non-civilized behavior and social disorder by the establishment of Christian morals.

 

[SECTION 1 ­ GROUPING A]

Cristiano (Christian) Mask (comic type) 20th century

Mexico or Guatemala

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.241

 

Pink-faced Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.63

 

Light-skinned Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.177

 

Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Atlapexco, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.197

 

Cristiano (Christian) Mask for the Dance of the Twelve Peers of France 20th century

Continela, Hidalgo

Wood, paint, horsehair, leather, nails

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.167

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) or Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Aguira, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.229

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) or Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.153

 

---

[SECTION 1 ­ GROUPING B]

 

Red-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Huejotzingo area, Puebla

Wood, paint, metal wire

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.36

 

Beige-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Chantolo, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.96

 

Black-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Pascola de Navajos, Sonora.

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.212

 

Diablo-Moro (Devil-Moor) Mask 20th century

Paso Ancho, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.16

 

 

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[SECTION 2 - WALL TEXT]

 

Carnival and Sacred Dramas of Easter (Semana Santa)

Spectacular dance performances relate sacred Christian history, especially the Easter drama of Semana Santa (Holy Week) re-enacting the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival reverses social norms and symbolizes human existence before the coming of Jesus and Christian morality

 

During Carnival, authority, propriety and beauty are derided. Mock social and political rebellion holds sway, and the usual sexual decorum is rejected. Dancers make fun of landowners and the rich, politicians and priests, their performances being humorous and sometimes a bit licentious, often at the expense of those portrayed and members of the audience.

 

 

[SECTION 2 - GROUPING A]

Carnival Mask 20th century

Huajutla, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.40

 

Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint, rawhide, fiber cord

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.132

 

Carnival Buffoon Mask 20th century

Chango, Michoacán

Wood, paint, cotton, fiber cord

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.25

 

Carnival Cherub Mask 20th century

Puebla or Tlaxcala (?)

Wood, glass

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.183

 

 

----

[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING B]

 

Carnival Catrín (Dandy) Masks

 

The spectacular Carnival performances of Tlaxcala and Puebla feature the catrín, a dandy elegantly dressed in 19th-century frock coat and top hat adorned with ribbons. Men dressed as women accompany the catrines, embodying Carnival's reversal of social norms. Together they parade through the streets inviting all to dance. Catrines may carry umbrellas to encourage rain via sympathetic magic, which likely has its origins in pre-Conquest agricultural rites of springtime (the planting season).

 

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Puebla, Tlaxcala or Mexico (state)

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.89

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Puebla or Tlaxcala

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.128

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.235

 

---

[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING C]

 

Judíos (Jews) and Fariseos (Pharisees) Masks of Semana Santa (Holy Week)

 

Key performers during Holy Week are the Judíos-Fariseos (Jews-Pharasees) who play the role of the slayers of Christ, the character of Judío-Fariseo not referring to any culture group or anti-Semitism. Judío-Fariseo masks typically have unattractive faces, unkempt hair and beards, and may include Asian facial features.

 

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, animal hide

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.176

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.210

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Asian-Featured Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.86

 

----

[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING D]

 

Viejos

Viejos (Old Ones [male], Old Men) or Viejitos (Little Old Ones [male], Little Old Men) are important performers in Carnival, Semana Santa (Holy Week), and Christmas dramas. Some embody reverence and authority whereas others are clown-like figures who maintain crowd control, making way for the dancers while acting in rather inappropriate ways, especially towards female on-lookers. In Michoacán, Viejitos Feos (Ugly Little Old Men) and Viejitos Lindos (Pretty Little Old Men) represent improper and proper behavior, their performances underscoring one's responsibility to abide by the expected social norms.

 

 

Viejo (Old Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.133

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, horsehair, glitter

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.164

 

Viejo (Old Man) Mask 20th century

Veracruz

Wood, horse hair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.5

 

Viejo (Old Man)-Monkey Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, bone

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.77

 

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[SECTION 3 - WALL TEXT]

 

El Diablo / The Devil

 

Devils are omnipresent in Mexican pageants. Some recount Lucifer's fall from heavenly grace and his defeat by the archangel Saint Michael. In Christmas dances re-enacting the journey of shepherd children to honor the infant Jesus, devils impede their trek. In Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, devils perform during the dance honoring the town's patron saint Santiago (Saint James), commemorating his miraculous appearance that ensured Spanish victory over the Moors. The complex devil masks of Guerrero are worn during the Devil's Masquerade on Mexican Independence Day (September 16). And El Diablo (The Devil) also appears in Carnival and Holy Week dramas and the Dance of Christians and Moors.

 

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

El Pueblito, Querétaro

Wood, paint, horsehair, cloth

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.226

 

Diablo (Devil) Carnival Mask 20th century

Oaxaca

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.172

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.122

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Guerrero

Wood, paint, leather

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.78

 

Green Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, plastic, metal screws

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.91

 

Red Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, fabric, nails

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.1

 

Diablo-Toro (Devil-Bull) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, nails

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.134

 

Diablo-Toro (Devil-Bull) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Metal, wood, leather, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.116

 

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[SECTION 4 - WALL TEXT]

 

La Muerte / Death

 

Supernatural beings with skeletal features were common in ancient Mexico, often associated with the Underworld, the abode of the dead and not a dreaded place of eternal punishment. The European concept of Hell had little meaning for indigenous peoples, resulting in today's La Muerte (Death) dance character having more in common with the Devil in his role as a buffoon. Often, La Muerte (Death) and El Diablo (The Devil) perform together as partners or mock antagonists during Carnival and Holy Week pageants.

 

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

La Concepción, San Luís Potosí

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.182

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

Oaxaca

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.228

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

Tocuaro, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.66

 

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[SECTION 5 - WALL TEXT]

 

Negritos / Little Black Men

 

Black-painted masks have pre-Conquest and African-Mexican origins. In ancient times, black pertained to penitential rites among the Maya and denoted the powerful Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca. Among the Tarascans of Michoacán, black signified visionary power, bravery, nobility and wealth, the color retaining its pre-Conquest connotations in the region's performance masks.

 

Michoacán's famous Negritos (Little Black Ones or Little Black Men) performers, played by young men to fulfill religious vows, perform during many religious festivals and on New Year's Day. They portray the 17th- and 18h-century African overseers who were the powerful intermediaries between Spanish landowners and their Indian laborers. Native peoples came to associate Africans with social position, economic power, and rich clothing, today reflected in the Negritos (Little Black Men) performers' ornate costumes. Their Caucasian facial features follow the standard representational formal for Spanish-Mexican saints.

 

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, cotton

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.95

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

25.90 x 15.30 x 10.90 cm

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.144

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Pinotepa, Oaxaca

Wood, paint, hemp

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.41

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, satin ribbon, stray, plastic beads, paper, plastic

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.215

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.115

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SECTION 6 - WALL TEXT]

 

Female Masks

 

Some female, old or young, performers symbolize the earth and fertility. They may be honorable ladies or wanton young girls as the personifications of appropriate or inappropriate female behavior. Others portray Malinche, the native translator and consort of Hernán Cortés during reenactments of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Traditionally, female roles are played by men, a hold-over from 16th-century Spanish ecclesiastics who viewed the acting profession as improper for women.

 

 

Malinche (Consort of Hernán Cortés) Mask 20th century

Cuetzalan, Puebla

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.31.

 

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[SECTION 7 - WALL TEXT]

 

Animals

 

Animal characters are plentiful in Carnival pageants, including dogs, coyotes, foxes, goats and birds, especially the owl, harbinger of misfortune. Monkeys, associated with song and dance, may be a survival of ancient beliefs, and bulls share characteristics with the Devil.

 

The festival of Corpus Christi features a hunting chase among humans, jaguars, deer, and plumed serpents while other animals assist the Virgin Mary in rescuing the crucified body of Christ.

 

 

Fantasy Bird Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal hair, hemp

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.186

 

Owl Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.68.

 

Wolf or Coyote Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.139

 

Goat Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.206

 

Bull Mask 20th century

Alemejo, Veracruz

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.225

 

Composite Cow-Devil Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.85

 

Monkey Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.112

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SECTION 8 - WALL TEXT]

 

[MOST JAGUAR MASKS CAN BE HUNG ON THE WALL; THE SECOND ONE (PG2004.105.42) NEEDS TO BE IN A CASE OR ON A TALL COLUMN AND PERHAPS SET UPON A RISER ON THE INSIDE TO ACCOMMODATE THE CLOTH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MASK]

 

 

El Tigre / The Jaguar

 

El Tigre (the tiger, but actually a jaguar) is the most common animal in traditional dances. Foe to humans, the jaguar symbolizes the struggle between light and darkness, civilized life versus untamed nature, and the need to protect crops, fieldworkers and domestic animals from nature's malevolent forces.

 

Other jaguar performers may personify the valiant guardian against malevolent forest spirits, the fearless Aztec warriors in reenactments of Spain's conquest of Mexico, or, El Duende, Lord of the Forest, protector of wild animals.

 

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Michoacán or Jalisco

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.223

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Zitlala or Acatlán area, Guerrero

Leather, paint, metal, boar hair, painted cloth

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.42

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.154

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.107

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Zitlala or Acatlán area, Guerrero

Wood, paint, animal teeth, boar tusks and hair, mirrors

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.175.

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Mexico

wood, paint, animal teetch, animal hair, raffia

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.202

 

El Duende (Lord of the Forest) Mask 20th century

Olinalá, Guerrero

Wood, leather, paint, boar tusks and hair, glass

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2005.119.4

 

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[SECTION 9 - WALL TEXT]

 

Deer

 

Deer play seminal roles in Holy Week pageants throughout Mexico, and are especially important to a variety of performances among the Yaquis and Mayos whose dance rituals combine Christian, 18th-century Spanish and indigenous stories. One concerns the petition of pardon from the animals for the need to kill a deer for food. During the dance, one of the hunters is transformed into the deer's younger brother in exchange for the taken animal.

 

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.75

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Tocuaro, Michoacán

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.92

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo.

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.162

 

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA {INCLUDING ALASKA} WHICH LOCATES THE NATIVE PEOPLES REPRESENTED IN THE EXHIBIT]

 

[WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

Woven Wonders: Native American Basketry

 

Basketry is the world's oldest craft tradition. Present at the dawn of civilization, it survives today with scant technical change yet nearly limitless aesthetic variability.

 

Baskets served all facets of food gathering and production prior to the discovery of pottery making. Beyond the field and hearth, baskets stored countless household items, from hunting and agricultural tools to clothes, body adornments and domesticated animals.

 

Among Native Americans, baskets have touched every facet of daily life, from cradle to grave, and also serve as obligatory containers and symbols during social and religious rites. Special baskets envelop ritual objects of great sanctity, shielding them from the profane world and protecting people from their extraordinary power.

 

The English word "basket" comes from the Welsh "basgawd", meaning "a weaving of sticks". Made from the most basic of materials -sticks, grasses and ferns-their creation is a time-consuming process, from the careful harvesting of plant fibers, their dyeing and preparation for weaving, and finally the careful fashioning of the piece. Typically the work of women, a study of basketry highlights the feminine half of society, and their resourcefulness, inventive genius, and patience.

 

 

[GROUPING 1 - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

Basketry Traditions of the Southwest

 

Basketry developed in the Southwest before 1000 B.C.E. (1000 B.C.) among a culture know as the Basketmakers, so-named because of the amazing quality and vitality of their woven artifacts. By the end of the 19th Century, basketry hovered on the brink of extinction yet was saved by the 1880 arrival of the railroad and the new tourist market. Today, Native basketry traditions in the Southwest are highly varied, reflecting the distinctiveness of each culture group (tribe) and their complex histories of interaction.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 1-A one basket]

 

Lorraine Black. Diné (Navajo), 1970-

Tray 1994

Coiled natural materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.30

 

The best Diné (Navajo) basket makers have risen to the challenge of converting an idea or legend into a successful visual program adapted to the circular surface of a tray and the structural limitations of the coil method. This tray exemplifies the new, creative environment and its artists' innovations of color and design.

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-B]

 

Apache Basketry

 

The Apaches, northern immigrants into the Southwest, were divided by ancient politics into two groups. The western Apaches in Arizona used baskets in all daily activities due to the scarcity of pottery. Today, their wide bowls and trays are coveted by collectors because of the bold designs which visually explode from a central black circle but yet are contained by the vessels' black rims.

 

The eastern groups in New Mexico include the Jicarilla Apaches, celebrated for their sturdy baskets that push the boundaries of form and design yet maintain traditional aesthetic sensibilities. The exceptionlly fine, coiled jar features a classic, diagonal motif of interlocked triangles.

 

Coiled Tray with Lightening and Cloud Pattern circa 1930

White Mountain Apache

Devil's claw and other natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.9

 

Jar-shaped Basket circa 1910

Jicarilla Apache

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.10

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-C]

 

O'odham Basketry

 

Southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico are the ancestral home of the Akimel O´odham (Pima), or ´´River People´´, and the Tohono O´odham (Papago), or ´´Desert People´´. Their forced move onto reservations dramatically changed their life ways, and many basket forms disappeared from daily use and common production. Basket making was revived in response to the late 19th Century tourist market and wage economy, the O'odham artists weaving small bowls and novelty forms such as dolls and animals. O'odham baskets are celebrated for dramatic yet delicate design motifs.

 

Basket circa 1910

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.31

 

Basket circa 1935

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Coiled natural plant materials

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.3

 

Owl Effigy Basket circa 1940

Tohono O'odham (Papago)

Devil's claw and yucca fibers

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.134

 

---

[SUBGROUP 1-D]

 

Norma Antone. Tohono O'odham (Papago)., 1937-

Tray circa 1993

Horsehair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.2

 

Tray circa 1982

Tohono O'odham (Papago)

Horsehair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.4

 

Norma Antone is among the few Tohono O´odham basket artists who specialize in small trays woven with horse hair and decorated with intricate designs, such as the tray featuring a serpent encircled by two rows of human figures. The small tray on the right (artist unknown) is constructed with exceptionally fine horse hairs and embellished with human figures.

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-E]

 

Hopi Basketry

 

The western Hopi of First, Second, and Third Mesas in Arizona are distinguished from their New Mexico Pueblo cousins by a dynamic basketry tradition and religious principles based on the katsinas, sacred spirits responsible for bringing life-giving rain.

 

Katsina images often decorate flat trays or plaques. Trays hold piki bread, a maize-based food, served to katsina dancers during ritual ceremonies. Plaques are carried during religious ceremonies and are made by brides as gifts for the participants in their marriage celebrations.

 

 

Basket circa 1930

Hopi, Third Mesa

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.28

 

Tall Basket circa 1915

Hopi, Third Mesa

Wicker technique using natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.32

 

Bertha Wadsworth. Hopi, Second Mesa, 1937-

Tray or Plaque circa 1994

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.33

 

 

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[GROUPING 2 - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

 

Basketry Traditions of the Great Basin and California

 

The Great Basin and adjacent regions of California were inhabited by many culture groups (tribes) prior to the coming of Europeans in the 17th Century. The Washo, who have lived on the western edge of the Great Basin for hundreds of years, are related to tribes in northwestern California including the Hupa, and the Pomo, Maidu and Yokut of California's lush Central Valley. Basketry remains an important art form among these peoples in spite of three hundred years of inter-tribal warfare and the invasion of Europeans and Americans, which dramatically altered Native life ways.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-A]

 

Twined Conical Seed Basket circa 1900

Washo

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.6

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-B ­ one basket]

 

Bowl late 19th century

Pomo

Coiled natural plant materials and beads

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.14

 

Pomo basket makers are renowned for their distinctive addition of feathers and beads to augment the woven designs.

 

 

[SUBGROUPING 2-C ­ one basket]

 

Coiled Basket with "Scatter Design" circa 1900

Maidu

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.19

 

Maidu basketry is distinguished by its "scatter designs" that disperse images throughout the basket, such as the human figures embellishing this example.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-D ­ one basket]

 

Tray circa 1900

Yokut

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.15

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-E ]

 

Woman's Hat circa 1920

Hupa

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.18

 

Woman's Special Occasion Hat late 19th century

Hupa

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.17

 

The Hupa are among the best basket makers of California. They are celebrated for their unique women's hats, the repertoire including everyday hats, widows' hats and those for special occasions, exemplified by the ultimate in fine craftsmanship and aesthetics.

 

 

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[GROUPING 3 ­ NORTHWEST COAST - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

Basketry Traditions of the Northwest Coast

 

The Northwest Coast of the United States and the adjacent littoral of British Columbia and Alaska are home to myriad Native tribes comprising a vibrant patchwork of humanity which may be divided into three large groups based on geography. The basketry arts have not disappeared among these peoples due, in part, to the amazing technical skill and artistry that caught the early attention of European traders, settlers and collectors. By 1900, a robust collecting culture had matured which provided a steady, cash-based market to support basket artists.

 

----

[NORTHWEST COAST SUBGROUP 3-A]

 

Puget Sound Basketry Traditions

 

Among Puget Sound's Salish and Makah peoples, basketry always has been at the center of daily life, the gathering or carrying basket being among the most useful forms. Today, the region is home to one of theworld's most vibrant basketry traditions, its weavers maintaining the highest standards of craftsmanship while pushing the boundaries of form and decoration to create innovative works.

 

Carrying Basket circa 1930

Salish

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.24

 

Basket circa 1920

Makah

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.23

 

----

[NORTHWEST COAST SUBGROUP 3-B]

 

Tlingit Basketry

 

The Tlingit of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia believe that the art of basketry was a gift from Raven in mythological times when humans and spirit beings shared lives and loves.

 

Each of the distinctive Tlingit basketry techniques and decorative modes has a Native name and meaning. Tlingit basket artists are famous for open-work creations that hold their seemingly delicate form in spite of the rigors of use and time. Among the more exceptional forms is the lidded work basket with hollow, rattling lid.

 

Open-Work Basket with Rattle Lid circa 1900

Tlingit

Twined natural plant materials, tiny pellets (inside lid)

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.25A-B

 

Work Basket with Rattle Lid circa 1910

Tlingit, southern Alaska or northern British Columbia

Twined natural plant materials, tiny pellets (inside lid)

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.26A-B

 

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[GROUPING 4 ­ MEXICO - TEXT PANEL & LABEL]

 

Basketry Traditions of Northern Mexico

 

Baskets are universal accoutrements of daily life throughout the world. Among indigenous peoples in northern Mexico, baskets remain key, domestic accoutrements and follow time-honored forms including the bowl, jar and lidded container.

 

Large Jar-shaped Basket 20th Century

Tarahumara, Cerrocahua area, Chihuahua

Diagonal, plaited twill

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.5.1

 

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[GROUPING 5 - ONE OBJECT WITH NO ADDITIONAL WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

Contemporary Basketry in North Carolina

 

Billie Ruth Suddeth. American, 1945-

Twill Basket 1998

Japanese twill weave

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.27

 

This exceptional artwork by renowned North Carolina basket maker Billie Ruth Sudduth is inspired by myriad sources including Cherokee and other Native American basket artists and the arithmatic theories of 13thcentury mathematician and savant Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa).

 

Diego Romero adapts the ancient Mimbres narrative bowl to recount vignettes of modern life, here his famous transformation of the Mimbres hero twins into the Chongo Brothers. These alcoholic siblings stumble through the obstacles of modern life, especially alcohol that awaits the unwary, the brothers being metaphors for the world's disenfranchised.

 

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[CASE 6 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

 

The Jemez River Valley Traditions: Jemez and Zia Pueblos

 

After the Pueblo Rebellion against the Spanish is 1680, many people fled to the Jemez Valley and a symbiotic relationship developed among them. The Jemez people abandoned pottery making and focused on farming because of the fertile soils surrounding their pueblo. They traded for pottery from their Zia neighbors who had maintained the ceramic arts. Today, Zia potters are unique in their use of basalt temper which produces unusually durable pottery. Their works also are distinguished by a dense, black slip made from manganese oxide rather than the bee plant, the common pigment source for black slip paint.

 

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Eusebia Shije. Zia, 1936-

Dough Bowl 1988

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.14

 

Zia pottery designs are symbolic messages that pertain to the function of the vessel they decorate. Here, roadrunners, the bearers of prayers, and maize plants adorn this large bowl used to prepare maize or wheat dough for bread.

 

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Juanita Fragua. Jemez, 1935-

Wedding Jar 1993

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.24

 

Jemez Pueblo artists look to their own traditions as well as neighboring ceramic styles for inspiration. The double-spouted, strap-handled wedding jar is a distinctive Santa Clara Pueblo shape which has been adopted by many potters throughout New Mexico and Arizona. This vessel won first prize in the 1993 Santa Fe Indian Market.

 

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[CASE 7 - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

Figural Traditions of the Middle and Northern Rio Grande Pueblos

 

A diverse repertoire of figurines was developed at the Rio Grande pueblos, especially Cochiti and Tesuque, to supply curios for the new tourist trade after the coming of the railroad in 1880. Helen Cordero created unique "storyteller" figures in the 1960s, but the type fell out of favor with collectors during the 1970s. Today, renewed interest has prompted Cochiti, Tesuque and Jemez artists to further explore the concept, each bringing personal narratives to figural clay sculpture.

 

"Rain God" Figures circa 1930s-1940s

Tesuque

Earthenware with post-fire paint

Gifts of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.27.1, 2006.85.27.2

 

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Louis Naranjo. Cochiti, 1932-1997

"Storyteller" Figure circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.7

 

Three children envelop this fine "storyteller" sculpture by Louis Naranjo. The white slip, characteristic of Cochiti pottery, requires many layers of application to attain its signature white surface.

 

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Kathleen Wall. Jemez, 1972-

Koshare Figure 1991

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.28

 

Kathleen Wall forever changed the "storyteller" figurine style by dropping its signature babies and transforming her figures into koshares, the sacred clowns who bring joy to the world.

 

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[CASE 8 {or combined with Case 7, but placed separately} - SUBSECTION CASE PANEL]

 

Figural Sculptures by Virgil Ortiz

 

The most celebrated of the Cochiti figurative artists is Virgil Ortiz. His clay figures are inspired by the 19th-century "manos", clay sculptures portraying the itinerant travelers, such as circus and Roma (Gypsy) peoples, who came through the pueblos during the early 1900s.

 

Ortiz' contemporary figures explore modern themes and the concerns of society at large. His remarkable earthenware sculptures, with their engaging gestures, energetic painted bodies and enigmatic messages, prompted New York fashion designer Donna Karan to invite Ortiz to collaborate on a DKNY line of clothes and accessories.

 

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Virgil Ortiz. Cochiti, 1969-

Standing Male Figure 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.64

 

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Virgil Ortiz. Cochiti, 1969-

Siamese Twins 1997

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.1

 

This captivating sculpture was made in honor of the artist's mother.

 

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[SUBSECTION WALL TEXT]

The Western Traditions: Acoma, Laguna and Zuni Pueblos

 

The origins of the western pueblos' ceramic traditions are found among the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) peoples who lived in the region as early as 200 C.E. until 1100-1200 C.E. when dispersed east, south and west. Acoma Pueblo was founded soon thereafter, and nearby Laguna Pueblo was established in the 1690s, maintaining close ties with Acoma. The three pueblos share life ways, worldview and landscape although the people of Zuni speak a different language, its closest relatives being found in northern California, and follow different ceremonial traditions.

 

Acoma, Laguna and Zuni pottery combines modern aesthetics with ancient Mimbres and earlier cultures' artistic traditions. These include bold, geometric black-on-white designs, red-slipped interiors and vessel bases, and contemporary versions of ancient Corrugated Ware.

 

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[CASE 9 - SUBSECTION CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Laguna Pueblo Pottery

 

Laguna pottery features broad bands filled with geometric motifs and the extensive use of red slip. Pottery making nearly died out in the 1970s but was revived by Evelyn Cheromiah and Gladys Paquin, the latter living in California for twenty-seven years before returning to Laguna and teaching herself the pottery arts.

 

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Gladys Pacquin. Laguna, 1936-

Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.94

 

Gladys Pacquin insists on traditional, open firings rather than using a kiln because she believes the kiln dries out the vessel and makes it look dead. She incorporates ancient designs but does not copy them, stating that she is simply carrying on the earlier artist's inspiration.

 

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Andrew Padilla. Laguna, 1956-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.18

 

The son of Gladys Pacquin, Andrew Padilla has embarked on a different aesthetic path. This squash-shaped seed jar is a fine example of his signature, high-polished white wares, stunning in form and surface quality, which reflect both Laguna and Santa Clara ceramic traditions.

 

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Myron Sarracino (Kaa Ooa Dinn Naa). Laguna, 1967-

Jar 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2005.119.6

 

This jar's dramatic black-on-white designs hark back to Mimbres pottery whereas the deep red slip painting of base and interior are a contemporary innovation of Laguna ceramic artists.

 

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[CASE 10 ­ SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Acoma Pueblo Pottery

 

Acoma pottery artists are celebrated for their revival of Mimbres ceramics, in particular the black-on-white style of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Fine-line, black-on-white painting, with accents of red-orange, is the hallmark of contemporary Acoma ceramics. Made famous by Lucy Lewis and Marie Z. Chino, exceptionally thin, parallel lines fill larger geometric forms that envelope vessels, and medallions with plain backgrounds feature symbolic motifs.

 

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Acoma

Large Jar circa 1915-1925

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.56

 

Streaky orange and red slips are characteristic of early 20th-century Acoma pottery. A medallion, surrounded by cloud motifs, enframes a large feather design.

 

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Barbara Cerno. Acoma, 1951-

Jospeh Cerno. Acoma, 1947-

Large Jar 1993

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.58

 

Made by leading Acoma potters Barbara and Joe Cerno, this jar's imagery features motifs pertaining to water, including clouds, rain and the wotsana´we water bird. The Cernos are famous for their exceptionally bright, white slip produced without the use of an oxidizing kiln, a phenomenal technical achievement resulting from mastery of slip preparation and traditional firing.

 

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Rachel Concho. Acoma, 1936-

Tiny Seed Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.8

 

Bold geometric designs in black-on-white slip paint adorn this tiny seed jar, the motifs inspired by ancient Mimbres pottery. The bold designs belie the small size of the vessel.

 

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Florence Aragon and Rachel Aragon

 

The popularity of Acoma pottery has prompted the use of pre-made greenware so the artists can focus efforts and talent on their visually powerful, detailed painting. Yet many distinguished potters, such as sisters Florence and Rachel Aragon, insist on hand-building their vessels to preserve the totality of the creative process.

 

Florence Aragon. Acoma, 1929-

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.4

 

A parrot motif adorns this high-shouldered jar by Florence Aragon, among the most celebrated of Acoma pottery artists.

 

Rachel Aragon. Acoma, 1938-

Jar 1989

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.54

 

The wotsana´we water bird, whose presence petitions the jar to never be empty, decorates this outstanding vessel by Rachel Aragon. Stepped clouds and inchworm motifs add to the rain-related message of the imagery.

 

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[CASE 11 ­ SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

Zuni Pueblo Pottery

 

Zuni pottery is known for its delicate yet bold design motifs, especially animals which refer to seminal Zuni myths. Revived during the past thirty years, pottery artists have studied the forms and design programs of Mimbres and old Zuni pottery in museum collections as well as potsherds they find at long- abandoned settlements. Yet Zuni painters never copy the old designs but instead, as Randy Nahohai says, they create personal interpretations of what the old designs mean.

 

A unique Zuni element is a broken line somewhere on the vessel. It symbolizes a person's life still in progress whereas a completed line denotes the end of life. The broken line narrates health and long life, and only if a vessel is to be used in the kiva will some potters use completed lines.

 

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Anderson Peynetsa. Zuni, 1964-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.12

 

This seed jar's interlocked motifs embrace the artist's personal interpretations of ancient Mimbres and early Zuni designs combined with the crook-with-stripes motif signifying the ceremonial drumstick of rain (katsina) fraternities, the thin, parallel stripes portraying rain.

 

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Anderson Peynetsa. Zuni, 1964-

Seed Jar circa 1980s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.13

 

Deer pierced with arrows signify their life force. Note the break in the double parallel lines below the deer which symbolizes life still in progress. The red and black stepped motif (with interior red triangle) was interpreted in 1924 as the design painted on the mask of the katsina (rain spirit being) T´elacoktipona ´´Wooden Ear´´.

 

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Randy Nahohai. Zuni, 1957-

Deep Bowl late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2003.114.17

 

Deer led the first Zunis to sources of life-giving water. The thick, black line below the deer is a prayer for damp earth (i.e. rain).

 

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[CASE 12 SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

 

The Hopi and Hopi-Tewa Traditions of Northern Arizona

 

The Hopi who live near northern Arizona's San Francisco peaks are descendants of the now-abandoned ancient pueblo of Sityatki. Long isolated from their Hopi cousins of New Mexico, they are distinguished by language and religious tradition based on the katsina, sacred spirits responsible for bringing life-giving rain. After the 1680 Pueblo Rebellion, some Hopi-Tewa people came from New Mexico, establishing their own village on First Mesa. Today they remain a separate Hopi-Tewa group although they long ago adopted local ceramic traditions.

 

The world-renowned clay artist Nampeyo revived old Sityatki pottery styles during the late 19th Century. She located original Sityatki clay sources and rediscovered ancient pottery techniques. Abandoning the white-slipped and polished wares introduced by New Mexican Pueblo potters, she preferred local yellow clays and direct polishing of the unslipped vessel.

 

 

[CASE 12 ­ OBJECT LABELS]

 

Dee Setalla. Bear Clan (Mishongnovi), Hopi, 1963-

Tall-necked Jar circa 1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.122

 

The yellowish-beige ground of this jar, delicately punctuated with darker blushes, is the hallmark of Hopi pottery. The artist masterfully adapts an Acoma parrot motif to his own style, the jar winning first place at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market.

 

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Sylvia Naha. Hopi-Tewa, 1951-1999

Seed Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.3

 

The motifs of maize plant, lizard, spirals and zigzags may be a petition for successful planting, an appropriate narrative for a seed collecting and storage jar.

 

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Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo. Hopi, 1934-

Jar, late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.41

 

Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo employs classical Hopi-Tewa pottery methods and designs to keep tradition alive, which is of prime importance for her as a potter, although she also continues her famous family's long-standing spirit of artistic experimentation and innovation.

 

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[CASE 13 SUBSECTION WALL OR CASE TEXT PANEL]

 

The Pottery of Mata Ortiz, Mexico: Reviving Ancient Casas Grandes Ceramics

 

The tiny town of Mata Ortiz, located in northern Mexico's Chihuahua desert, gave the world a remarkable ceramic style that suddenly appeared in the late 1950s. Created by Juan Quezada Celado, he was inspired by ancient pottery fragments of the Casas Grandes culture littering the ruins of Paquimé, a major trade and religious center from 1000-1400 C.E. Through observance and experimentation, Quezada replicated the ancient pottery. Sharing the discoveries with his brothers Nicolás and Reynaldo, they motivated many others, the village today being a prime center for the ceramic arts in Mexico

 

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Reynaldo Quezada Celado. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.72.

 

Reynaldo Quezada originated the famed tejido decorative technique which covers the vessel surface with an indented design echoing basketry or similar braided or woven materials.

 

 

Octavio Silveira Sandóval. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar 1995

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2006.85.11

 

This jar's decoration combines features of the two major pottery-producing groups in Mata Ortiz, the imagery adapted from ancient Casas Grandes and Mimbres pottery.

 

 

Nicholás Ortiz Estrada. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Rabbit Effigy late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.74

 

Nicholás Ortiz models figures of animals and humans that resemble ancient Casas Grandes effigy figures but are more refined in shape and design.

 

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Laura Bugarini Cota. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Tall Jar mid-1990s

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.10

 

Among the youngest and most successful of the second generation of Mata Ortiz artists, Bugarini quit painting pottery when her novel designs and decorative programs began to be copied throughout Mata Ortiz. She moved to Denver, Colorado to work as a domestic.

 

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Hilario ("Lalo") Corona Quesada. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.9

 

Mata Ortiz artists adapted the matte-black and polished slip decorative technique first created by Julian and Maria Martinez in 1919 at San Ildefonso in New Mexico. They achieved the same lustrous, metallic black finish by using graphite ground from pencils or, more recently, copy machine toner.

 

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Gregorio ("Goyo") Silveira Ortiz. Mexican, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, life dates unknown

Jar late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.7.

 

Slip paint and plastic manipulation, in the form of indenting the wet clay and burnishing the jar's dried surface, produce the decoration on this jar. The artist masterfully plays the shiny, burnished red slip against the matte black paint.

 

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[CASE 13]

 

[THE SCULPTURE by Elizabeth Abeyta (PG2003.63.125A-F) HANGS ON THE CASE WALL]

 

Navajo

 

Elizabeth Abeyta. Navaho, 1955-2006

Spirit Sculpture 1990s

Stoneware, raffia, beads

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.125A-F

 

Elizabeth Abeyta specialized in creating embodiments of spiritual forces that she called "Spirit Sculptures," based on traditional vessel forms reinvented as sculpture and adorned with a variety of non-ceramic materials.

 

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Harrison Begaye (Haskay Yahne Yah, "Warrior Who Walked Up To His Enemy") Navajo, 1914-

Jar 1997

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.4

 

Landscape and natural forces are implied by the carved areas on this jar, creating a pictorial field that recedes from the high gloss surface.

 

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[CASE 14 CASE TEXT PANEL & OBJECTS LABELS]

 

Other Native American Pottery Artists

 

The pottery arts are not restricted to the peoples of the Southwest. Contemporary Native artists throughout the United States and Canada produce an impressive, varied repertoire of aesthetic and spiritual expressions in clay, often combined with other materials.

 

 

Anita Fields. Osage, 1951-

Figural Sculpture late 20th century

Earthenware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.128A-D

 

Anita Fields' female sculptures convey the spirituality of women and their familial roles, focusing on their inherent strength and love.

 

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Jacquie Stevens. Winnebago, 1949-

Assymetrical Jar 1990

Eartheware with slip paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.79

 

The artist first dreamed of this vase, and although she tried many times to re-create it, her efforts were unsuccessful. Stevens reasoned that the vase was a divine gift bestowed only once.

 

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Jacquie Stevens. Winnebago, 1949

Double-spouted Jar 1990

Eartheware with slip paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2004.126

 

This double-spouted form is inspired by the traditional Santa Clara Pueblo wedding jar and other two-spouted vessels from ancient Native American cultures. Stevens ranks among the first Native potters to produce asymmetrical vessels. This exceptional artwork won a first place ribbon at the Sante Fe Indian Market and remains among the Grices' best purchases.

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO AND GUATEMALA WHICH LOCATES THE MAYA PEOPLES REPRESENTED IN THE EXHIBIT]

 

 

[TEXTILES SECTION INTRODUCTORY WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

 

Threads of Identity: Contemporary Maya Textiles

 

Maya peoples of Guatemala and southeastern Mexico are renowned for their time-honored tradition of magnificent attire. Throughout the world, clothing transforms the biological body into a socio-cultural being, integrating the person into the community. Among the Maya, dress is an outward expression of cultural pride. Dress also conveys one's place in the world, signaling social identity and geographic origin or current community. It also articulates social structure, political affiliation and religious ideology by way of its decoration which comprises a symbol system of visual codes, the ability to read the messages reflecting one's degree of cultural initiation.

 

Today's repertoire of Maya traditional clothing, called traje, developed primarily during the Colonial Period (1521-1821) as a forced adoption of European dress. Yet elements of traje reach back more than 2,300 years. Today's fashions, as adaptations of imposed, foreign modes to indigenous couture, are testimony to Maya perseverance in spite of hundreds of years of colonization, enslavement and genocide.

Maya clothing styles generally are divided along language boundaries. This exhibition features fashions of the Kaqchikel, Ixil, K'iche', Mam, Tz'utujil, Chuj, Awakatek, Jakaltek and Poqomchi' from Guatemala, and Tzotzil and Tzeltal from Chiapas, Mexico.

 

 

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[GROUPING OF DRESSED FORMS WEARING TYPICAL GARMENTS & MANNERS OF DRESS - TEXT PANELS W/ OBJECT LABELS]

 

Women's Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Female traje retains many features of ancient dress with origins prior to 250 B.C.E., especially the wrap skirt (corte), waist wrap (faja), and hair bands (cintas) for typing up the hair and adorning the head. The primary Spanish addition is the requisite, loose-fitting blouse (huipil), although longer versions were essential to ancient formal dress. Today, Maya women take vigilant responsibility for the continuity of family and community life, their traje being the outward expression of this sacred duty.

 

Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Comalapa, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.62.1-3

 

 

Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cintas) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Bands) 20th century

K'iche'. Zunil, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.69.1-5

 

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Unmarried Young Woman's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

K'iche'. Nebaj, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.59.1-4

 

Unmarried girls often wear intricately decorated clothing which highlights her personal pride and hard-working nature, indicating she will be a good wife.

 

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Girl's Outfit (Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta) (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Ixil. San Juan Cotzal, Department of El Quiché

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.6.1-5

 

Girls wear smaller versions of the usual female articles of clothing including the huipil, corte, faja, and cinta. This corte, made of jaspe cloth whose decorative pattern is produced by the tie-dye method, is typical of Ixil style.

 

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Man's Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Male traje has experienced the greatest amount of change, the traditional loin cloth and hip covering being replaced in Colonial times by pantalones (trousers), either knee or mid-calf length, and held up with the faja (sash belt). A camisa (sleeved shirt), morral (shoulder bag), and su't (or tzute), a utility cloth of myriad functions from head covering to carrying cloth, complete the typical outfit.

 

Male Outfit (Camisa, Faja, Pantalones) (Sleeved Shirt, Sash Belt, Trousers) 20th century

Mam. San Martín Chile Verde, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.67.1-3

 

[CLOTHING STYLE GROUPINGS - WALL TEXT PANEL AND CULTURE GROUP LABELS]

 

Styles of Maya Traditional Clothing (Traje)

Clothing style, which encompasses such features as garment type, size, color, and decoration, reflects indigenous (both ancient and modern) and Colonial concepts. Maya fashion has expanded during the last 200 years into distinctive styles defining individual communities. This is of crucial importance because the Maya perceive each town or village as a unique social and political entity which is the foundation of one's life. The myriad decorative programs signal the wearer's personal and geographic identity as well as conveying specifics of social position or office and religious ideology, thereby center ing the person in the social sphere and spiritual universe.

 

[K'ICHE' GROUPING]

 

K'iche'

The K'iche' and the Kaqchikel were the two dominant peoples in Guatemala's southern highlands when the Spanish arrived in 1524, the K'iche' inhabiting the northwestern heart of the highlands with their capital at Q'umarkaj. The dramatic variation in their traje (traditional clothing) styles, especially noted in huipils, attests to the extent and power of the ancient K'iche' polity.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Nahualá, Department of El Quiché, Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.6

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Santa María Chiquimula, Department of Totonicapán, Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.12

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

 

K'iche'. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.26

 

The huipil (blouse) is composed of two or three narrow panels of cloth, woven by hand on the backstrap loom. Hand and machine embroidery join the panels and reinforce the neck opening.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Tecpán, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.29

 

This garment is woven from naturally-hued brown cotton, its resistance to fading making it a highly coveted fiber crop in ancient and modern times.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Nahualá, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.64

 

Maya textile artists produce their intricate designs from memory.

 

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[KAQCHIKEL GROUPING]

 

Kaqchikel

The Kaqchikel and the K'iche' dominated the southern highlands of Guatemala when the Spanish arrived in 1524, the Kaqchikel living throughout the southwestern highlands. Their capital Iximche', from 1470-1524, survives as a center of pilgrimage and tourism.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Aldea Llano de la Virgen, Department of Sacatepéquez

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.8

 

Non-traditional colors, such as bright violet, green and yellow, are made possible by the use of synthetic dyes, commercial yarns and acrylic fibers.

 

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Cofradía Huipil (Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Department of Sacatepéquez

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.10

 

The cofradía is a brotherhood of men, although there also are women's cofradías, who are responsible for the care of the town's patron saint. Cofradía ceremonies are serious affairs, and wearing the finest traje is required to honor the saint.

 

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Cofradía Huipil (Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Santa María de Jesús, Department of Jacaltenango

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.10

 

The triangles decorating the neck opening symbolize the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlán, which the Kaqchikel believe is a cosmic portal. When she dons this garment, the wearer places herself in the center of the universe where Creation took place.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Tecpán, Department of Chimaltenango

Cotton and silk

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.15

 

Weavers adorn clothing with images of animals, plants and abstract forms that carry symbolic messages. The meanings vary from town to town and even among weavers in the same neighborhood, making it difficult for outsiders to decipher the visual text.

 

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Huipil, Cinta, Faja (Blouse, Hair Band, Waist Wrap) 20th century

Kaqchiquel. San Antonio Palopó, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.11.1-3

 

Red became the favored color during the late 19th Century following the European introduction of alizarin, a synthetic red dye.

 

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Huipil, Faja (Blouse, Waist Wrap) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Santa Catarina Palopó, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.24.1-2

 

Widow's clothing typically is of darker colors with little or no red hues.

 

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[MAM GROUPING]

 

Mam

Mam territory extends along the far western highlands of Guatemala and extends to the Pacific Coast. Their ancient capital of Zaculeu (Saqulew), from circa 400-1525, was a fortified city, its stone walls protecting the Mam, for a time, from the invading Spanish.

 

The color variations and different amounts and type of decoration identify the specific Mam communities from which originate these two finely made women's outfits.

 

Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Mam. Zunil, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.61.1-4

 

Huipil, Faja, Corte, Cinta (Blouse, Waist Wrap, Wrap Skirt, Hair Band) 20th century

Mam. Cajul, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.60.1-4

 

The concentric diamond pattern adorning the faja (waist wrap) symbolizes the supernatural portal to the spiritual realms and positions its wearer in the center of the cosmos

----

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton,rayon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.17

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.18

 

The vertical zigzags on these two huipils may symbolize lightning or celestial spirits known as "sky serpents". The elaborate huipil, made of three panels hand-sewn together and embellished with brocade and embroidery, is a ceremonial garment whereas simpler, more subtle decoration distinguishes an everyday garment.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. San Pedro Neota, Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.5.

 

The embroidered and brocaded vertical bands adorning this garment contain motifs pertaining to fertility and cosmological ideals. They feature a fecund maize plant and celestial symbols including the sky, the sun, the sky serpent, and 'Heart of Sky', one of the portals to the supernatural realm.

 

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Man's Camisa and Faja (Sleeved Shirt, Sash Belt) 20th century

Mam. San Juan Atitlán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.32.1-2

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. San Juan Sacatepequéz, Department of Guatemala

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.56.1

 

The different styles of stripes on these two garments identify their respective places of origin whereas the decorative motifs are shared among many Mam weavers throughout the region.

 

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[TZ'UTUJIL GROUPING]

 

Tz'utujil

The Tz'utujil live on the western and southern shores of Lake Atitlán, Department of Sololá, in the heart of Guatemala's highlands. Among the most enduring of their traditions is the wearing of traje by women; most men have abandoned traditional clothing styles except for ceremonial occasions although a revival of male traje is taking place since the 1997 cessation of Guatemalan government-sponsored genocide of the Tz'utujil.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tz'utujil. Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton, metallic thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.35

 

Hand and machine embroidery decorate this huipil, the light purple dying of the typically white cloth being a recent innovation. The imagery, which features contemporary pictorial interpretations of day names from the ancient Maya calendar and the quetzal bird, the national symbol of Guatemala, links the past, present and future.

 

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Man's Pantalones and Faja (Trousers, Sash Belt) 20th century

Tz'utujil. Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.33.1-2

 

The trousers' embroidered birds refer to the ancient name for the Tz'utujil Lake Atitlán homeland 'Place of the People of the Bird House', the 'bird house' epithet referring to their ancient political charter whose underlying meaning remains obscure.

 

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[POQOMCHI']

 

Poqomchi'

 

Huipil (Blouse) late 19th century

Poqomchi'. Tactic, Department of Alta Vera Paz

Cotton, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.12

 

This older huipil (blouse) exemplifies the finest craftsmanship for ceremonial garments. Its decorative imagery comprises a rich narrative alluding to Creation myths, implied by the rows of male and female figures which typically refer to the Creator Couples, and other cosmic concerns symbolized by the deer and the diamond patterns. Also note the finely finished neck opening.

 

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[TZOTZIL AND TZELTAL GROUPING]

 

Tzotzil and Tzeltal (Mexico)

Living in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya are related linguistically and culturally. Their society blends traditional social forms and religious ideologies with Catholicism and Western institutions of colonial Spain and modern Mexico. Wool and cotton are used to fashion their distinctive garments. As in Guatemala, women frequently wear traditional clothing (traje) whereas men, who often leave their villages for wage labor, wear traje only on ceremonial occasions.

 

Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico.

Wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.48

 

The black color and red wool tassel are typical features of the traje style of San Juan Chamula.

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. Magdalenas, Chiapas, Mexico.

Cotton, wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.24

 

The design's location and iconography distinguish the Magdalenas style whereas the maroon hue is a personal innovation of the weaver. The interlocked diamonds convey solar and cosmological messages, the double yellow diamonds in the center symbolizing the sun and the blue and yellow ones at the corners indicating the west and east cardinal directions.

 

-------

 

Man's Outfit (Pantalones, Ponche, Sombrero ) (Trousers, Poncho, Hat) 20th century

Tzeltal. Tenajapa, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton and wool, acrylic ribbons

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.14.1-3

 

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Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzeltal. Tenajapa, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton, wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.43

 

The three decorative, brocaded bands include an elaborate diamond pattern that signifies the grand design of the universe.

 

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[CEREMONIAL HUIPILS GROUPING]

 

Cofradía and Ceremonial Huipils (Blouses)

Civil and religious rituals require garments of the finest craftsmanship and elaborate adornment encoding ideological messages pertinent to the ceremony, the weaver and the wearer. The ceremonial huipil, called a sobrehuipil, is a longer version of the waist-length, daily blouse. It is worn over the daily blouse during religious rituals in the church and those of the cofradía, the religious brotherhood/sisterhood responsible for the care of the town's patron saint.

 

Cofradía Huipil (Religious Brotherhood/Sisterhood Ceremonial Blouse) 20th century

Kaqchikel. Sololá, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk or rayon thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.23

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Jakatek. Almolonga, Department of Quetzaltenango

Cotton, silk or rayon thread, velvet ribbon

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.22

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Mam. Todos Santos, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.16

 

Ceremonial Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

K'iche'. Cotzál, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.38

 

Wedding Huipil (Blouse) 20th century

Tzotzil. Zinacantan, Chiapas, Mexico

Cotton, feathers

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.13

 

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[ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL A]

 

Hair and Head Wraps

Hair bands (cintas) and head wraps today may be the only clothing item that signals a woman's village of origin because non-village-specific huipil (blouse) styles and the jaspe (tie-dyed cloth) skirt are becoming the national Guatemalan, indigenous costume. Hair arrangement and cinta styles also may carry social information such as a woman's marital status.

 

Wrapping the cinta around the head in concentric circles creates a halo-like adornment called xk'ap (pronounced shkap). An ancient royal headdress style, today the xk'ap

represents "rainbow serpents"-the halo that surrounds the moon during the rainy season-which are the harbingers of rain. Combined with its red color, the xk'ap makes reference to sacrifice and sacred liquids (rain and blood) that bring vital energy to the world.

 

Wedding Cinta (Hair Band) 20th century

Awakatek. Aguacatán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.5

 

Xk'ap (Head Adornment) 20th century

Tz'utujil, Santiago Atitlán, Department of Sololá

Cotton, silk thread

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.15

 

------------------

ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL B]

 

Faja (Waist Wrap)

 

Women's wrap skirts and men's traditional trousers are tied in place and adorned by the faja (waist wrap for women, sash belt for men). Currently most fajas are machine-made and have lost stylistic features that identify place of origin. The decorative role of the faja, however, remains important to personal style which ensures design creativity and quality of production.

 

Faja (Waist Wrap) 20th century

Jacaltek. Jacaltenango, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.70.2

 

---

ACCESSORIES CASE DISPLAY(S) TEXT PANEL C]

 

Su't (Tzute) (Utility Cloth)

The village-specific utility cloth is a multi-functional item used by men and women. The large su't is a carrying cloth for bundles of goods or babies. The smaller version, for carrying purchases and personal items, is similar to a purse or backpack. Finely made and elaborately decorated ones, such as the double-cloth example here, are used on ceremonial occasions. When not in the use, the su't is worn over the shoulder or folded atop the head.

 

Su't (Utility Cloth) 20th century

K'iche'. Chichicastenango, Department of El Quiché

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.85.17

 

Double-cloth Su't? (Utility Cloth) 20th century

Chuj. San Mateo Ixtatán, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.63

 

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Perraje (Rebozo or Shawl) 20th century

Jacaltek. Jacaltenango, Department of Huehuetenango

Cotton

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.70.1

 

The perraje serves much the same function as the su't (utility cloth). In addition, the perraje is a cold weather wrap and a fashion statement. It is requisite for the well-dressed girl or woman, the finely woven and handsomely decorated accouterment elegantly draped over the shoulder.

 

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Morral (Man's Shoulder Bag) 20th century

K'iche'. Chichicastenango, Department of El Quiché

Wool

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2001.93.50

 

The double-headed eagle is called k'ot, meaning 'one head looking at the sky and the other looking at the earth' among some K'iche' communities whereas among others it symbolizes the god Kabawil, meaning 'double-sighted deity'.

 

The motif originated as the ancient Maya sky saurian representing the ecliptic (the path of the sun and planets through the sky) and the midday sun at the 'Heart of Sky' supernatural portal. Although the design recalls the European Hapsburg royal symbol, the diamond or St. Andrews cross in the eagle's breast affirms its ancient origin as a celestial icon.

 

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[CASE GROUPING]

 

Examples of Clothing from Classic Maya Ceramics

 

Drinking Vessel Maya , Late Classic Period, 650-780 C.E.

Motul de San José region, Department of Petén, Guatemala

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1984.237.12

 

Typical garments are worn by the royal figures portrayed on this vessel. The nobleman sports a loin cloth, hip wrap and faja (sash belt), The noblewoman wears a corte (wrap skirt) and a formal sobrehuipil (long blouse) of gauze cloth decorated with brocaded motifs.

 

----

 

Drinking Vessel. Maya, Late Classic Period, 650-800 C.E.

Usumacinta River area, Department of Petén, Guatemala

Earthenware with slip paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1984.237.12

 

Classic Period women typically wrapped their hair with textile bands (cintas) and added adornments of feathers, flowers, jadeite and shell, as in this depiction of the Maize god's wife, the paramount spouse.

 

----

 

Seated Noblewoman Maya, Late Classic Period, 650-800 C.E.

 

Jaina Island area, Campeche, Mexico

Earthenware with post-fire paint

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek.1977.82.14

 

Intricate coiffures typify ancient and modern practices among Maya peoples in Mexico and Guatemala, which include fancy wrappings of the hair with decorative, ribbon-like ties (cintas).

 

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF MEXICO THAT INCLUDES STATE BOUNDARIES AND THEIR NAMES]

 

[PERFORMANCE MASKS - INTRODUCTORY WALL PANEL & TWO MASKS TO ACCOMPANY WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

 

The Transformed Self: Performance Masks of Mexico

Public performances of epic tales, historical events and religious narratives are a key part of modern life in Mexico. The dance dramas, presented in city streets and church plazas, embody a community's essential beliefs and common human problems while imparting moral lessons.

 

 

Masked performers portray the drama's key figures. The mask is a vehicle of transformation that physically and psychologically converts the wearer into a new persona. In the altered state of being, the performer steps out of his/her everyday identity and sheds the social boundaries of human behavior. He/she now operates as an uninhibited intermediary between the community and the message being invoked.

 

The works presented here come from the primary mask-producing regions of Mexico where dance performances commonly accompany religious rituals and civic events. Particularly rich in pageant traditions and variety of performance masks are the states of Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Sonora, Sinaloa, Michoacán, Hidalgo and Guerrero.

 

 

Composite Spirit Mask From Dance of the Saints 20th century

Guerrero

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.113

 

Fantasy Mask 20th Century

Veracruz

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.187

 

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[SECTION 1 - WALL TEXT]

 

Dance of the Moors and Christians (Moros y Cristianos)

 

Performance rituals were ever-present in ancient Mexico, narrating ideologies of state and religion. Forbidden by the 16th-century Spanish conquerors of Mexico, the ecclesiastics responsible for Catholic conversions realized the power of ritual dance to convey the new religion and Spanish authority.

 

Early Spanish-Mexican pageants recounted Spain's defeat of the Moors (Muslims from northern Africa), the Moros y Cristianos performances asserting the superiority of the Catholic faith. Today they display the greatest diversity of narrative and costuming, often merged with other famous Christian clashes such as Charlemagne's 8th-century battles against the Moors.

 

Similar dances narrate the Spanish conquest of Mexico fused with other notable historical events. For example, Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico, Charlemagne, Roman centurions and archangel Saint Gabriel battle the Moors and Lucifer. In Oaxaca, Tiberius and Pontius Pilot, or Motecuzoma, the last Aztec emperor, fight the Christians and eventually beg to be baptized. These pageants share the theme of the struggle between Catholics and infidels, symbolizing the defeat of non-civilized behavior and social disorder by the establishment of Christian morals.

 

[SECTION 1 ­ GROUPING A]

Cristiano (Christian) Mask (comic type) 20th century

Mexico or Guatemala

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.241

 

Pink-faced Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.63

 

Light-skinned Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.177

 

Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Atlapexco, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.197

 

Cristiano (Christian) Mask for the Dance of the Twelve Peers of France 20th century

Continela, Hidalgo

Wood, paint, horsehair, leather, nails

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.167

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) or Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Aguira, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.229

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) or Cristiano (Christian) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.153

 

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[SECTION 1 ­ GROUPING B]

 

Red-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Huejotzingo area, Puebla

Wood, paint, metal wire

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.36

 

Beige-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Chantolo, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.96

 

Black-skinned Moro (Moor) Mask 20th century

Pascola de Navajos, Sonora.

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.212

 

Diablo-Moro (Devil-Moor) Mask 20th century

Paso Ancho, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.16

 

 

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[SECTION 2 - WALL TEXT]

 

Carnival and Sacred Dramas of Easter (Semana Santa)

Spectacular dance performances relate sacred Christian history, especially the Easter drama of Semana Santa (Holy Week) re-enacting the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival reverses social norms and symbolizes human existence before the coming of Jesus and Christian morality

 

During Carnival, authority, propriety and beauty are derided. Mock social and political rebellion holds sway, and the usual sexual decorum is rejected. Dancers make fun of landowners and the rich, politicians and priests, their performances being humorous and sometimes a bit licentious, often at the expense of those portrayed and members of the audience.

 

 

[SECTION 2 - GROUPING A]

Carnival Mask 20th century

Huajutla, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.40

 

Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint, rawhide, fiber cord

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.132

 

Carnival Buffoon Mask 20th century

Chango, Michoacán

Wood, paint, cotton, fiber cord

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.25

 

Carnival Cherub Mask 20th century

Puebla or Tlaxcala (?)

Wood, glass

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.183

 

 

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[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING B]

 

Carnival Catrín (Dandy) Masks

 

The spectacular Carnival performances of Tlaxcala and Puebla feature the catrín, a dandy elegantly dressed in 19th-century frock coat and top hat adorned with ribbons. Men dressed as women accompany the catrines, embodying Carnival's reversal of social norms. Together they parade through the streets inviting all to dance. Catrines may carry umbrellas to encourage rain via sympathetic magic, which likely has its origins in pre-Conquest agricultural rites of springtime (the planting season).

 

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Puebla, Tlaxcala or Mexico (state)

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.89

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Puebla or Tlaxcala

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.128

 

Catrín (Dandy) Carnival Mask 20th century

Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.235

 

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[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING C]

 

Judíos (Jews) and Fariseos (Pharisees) Masks of Semana Santa (Holy Week)

 

Key performers during Holy Week are the Judíos-Fariseos (Jews-Pharasees) who play the role of the slayers of Christ, the character of Judío-Fariseo not referring to any culture group or anti-Semitism. Judío-Fariseo masks typically have unattractive faces, unkempt hair and beards, and may include Asian facial features.

 

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, animal hide

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.176

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, horsehair

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.210

 

Judío-Fariseo (Jew-Pharisee) Asian-Featured Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.86

 

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[SECTION 2 ­ GROUPING D]

 

Viejos

Viejos (Old Ones [male], Old Men) or Viejitos (Little Old Ones [male], Little Old Men) are important performers in Carnival, Semana Santa (Holy Week), and Christmas dramas. Some embody reverence and authority whereas others are clown-like figures who maintain crowd control, making way for the dancers while acting in rather inappropriate ways, especially towards female on-lookers. In Michoacán, Viejitos Feos (Ugly Little Old Men) and Viejitos Lindos (Pretty Little Old Men) represent improper and proper behavior, their performances underscoring one's responsibility to abide by the expected social norms.

 

 

Viejo (Old Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.133

 

El Viejo (The Old Man) Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, horsehair, glitter

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.164

 

Viejo (Old Man) Mask 20th century

Veracruz

Wood, horse hair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.5

 

Viejo (Old Man)-Monkey Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, bone

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.77

 

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[SECTION 3 - WALL TEXT]

 

El Diablo / The Devil

 

Devils are omnipresent in Mexican pageants. Some recount Lucifer's fall from heavenly grace and his defeat by the archangel Saint Michael. In Christmas dances re-enacting the journey of shepherd children to honor the infant Jesus, devils impede their trek. In Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, devils perform during the dance honoring the town's patron saint Santiago (Saint James), commemorating his miraculous appearance that ensured Spanish victory over the Moors. The complex devil masks of Guerrero are worn during the Devil's Masquerade on Mexican Independence Day (September 16). And El Diablo (The Devil) also appears in Carnival and Holy Week dramas and the Dance of Christians and Moors.

 

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

El Pueblito, Querétaro

Wood, paint, horsehair, cloth

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.226

 

Diablo (Devil) Carnival Mask 20th century

Oaxaca

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.172

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.122

 

Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Guerrero

Wood, paint, leather

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.78

 

Green Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, plastic, metal screws

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.91

 

Red Diablo (Devil) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, fabric, nails

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2007.84.1

 

Diablo-Toro (Devil-Bull) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal horn, nails

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.134

 

Diablo-Toro (Devil-Bull) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Metal, wood, leather, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.116

 

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[SECTION 4 - WALL TEXT]

 

La Muerte / Death

 

Supernatural beings with skeletal features were common in ancient Mexico, often associated with the Underworld, the abode of the dead and not a dreaded place of eternal punishment. The European concept of Hell had little meaning for indigenous peoples, resulting in today's La Muerte (Death) dance character having more in common with the Devil in his role as a buffoon. Often, La Muerte (Death) and El Diablo (The Devil) perform together as partners or mock antagonists during Carnival and Holy Week pageants.

 

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

La Concepción, San Luís Potosí

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.182

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

Oaxaca

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.228

 

La Muerte (Death) Mask 20th century

Tocuaro, Michoacán

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.66

 

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[SECTION 5 - WALL TEXT]

 

Negritos / Little Black Men

 

Black-painted masks have pre-Conquest and African-Mexican origins. In ancient times, black pertained to penitential rites among the Maya and denoted the powerful Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca. Among the Tarascans of Michoacán, black signified visionary power, bravery, nobility and wealth, the color retaining its pre-Conquest connotations in the region's performance masks.

 

Michoacán's famous Negritos (Little Black Ones or Little Black Men) performers, played by young men to fulfill religious vows, perform during many religious festivals and on New Year's Day. They portray the 17th- and 18h-century African overseers who were the powerful intermediaries between Spanish landowners and their Indian laborers. Native peoples came to associate Africans with social position, economic power, and rich clothing, today reflected in the Negritos (Little Black Men) performers' ornate costumes. Their Caucasian facial features follow the standard representational formal for Spanish-Mexican saints.

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, cotton

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.95

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

25.90 x 15.30 x 10.90 cm

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.144

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Pinotepa, Oaxaca

Wood, paint, hemp

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.41

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Michoacán

Wood, paint, satin ribbon, stray, plastic beads, paper, plastic

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.215

 

Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.115

 

 

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[SECTION 6 - WALL TEXT]

 

Female Masks

 

Some female, old or young, performers symbolize the earth and fertility. They may be honorable ladies or wanton young girls as the personifications of appropriate or inappropriate female behavior. Others portray Malinche, the native translator and consort of Hernán Cortés during reenactments of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Traditionally, female roles are played by men, a hold-over from 16th-century Spanish ecclesiastics who viewed the acting profession as improper for women.

 

 

Malinche (Consort of Hernán Cortés) Mask 20th century

Cuetzalan, Puebla

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.31.

[SECTION 7 - WALL TEXT]

 

Animals

 

Animal characters are plentiful in Carnival pageants, including dogs, coyotes, foxes, goats and birds, especially the owl, harbinger of misfortune. Monkeys, associated with song and dance, may be a survival of ancient beliefs, and bulls share characteristics with the Devil.

 

The festival of Corpus Christi features a hunting chase among humans, jaguars, deer, and plumed serpents while other animals assist the Virgin Mary in rescuing the crucified body of Christ.

 

 

Fantasy Bird Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint, animal hair, hemp

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.186

 

Owl Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.68.

 

Wolf or Coyote Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.139

 

Goat Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.206

 

Bull Mask 20th century

Alemejo, Veracruz

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.225

 

Composite Cow-Devil Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.85

 

Monkey Mask 20th century

Mexico

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.112

 

 

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[SECTION 8 - WALL TEXT]

 

[MOST JAGUAR MASKS CAN BE HUNG ON THE WALL; THE SECOND ONE (PG2004.105.42) NEEDS TO BE IN A CASE OR ON A TALL COLUMN AND PERHAPS SET UPON A RISER ON THE INSIDE TO ACCOMMODATE THE CLOTH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MASK]

 

 

El Tigre / The Jaguar

 

El Tigre (the tiger, but actually a jaguar) is the most common animal in traditional dances. Foe to humans, the jaguar symbolizes the struggle between light and darkness, civilized life versus untamed nature, and the need to protect crops, fieldworkers and domestic animals from nature's malevolent forces.

 

Other jaguar performers may personify the valiant guardian against malevolent forest spirits, the fearless Aztec warriors in reenactments of Spain's conquest of Mexico, or, El Duende, Lord of the Forest, protector of wild animals.

 

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Michoacán or Jalisco

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.223

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Zitlala or Acatlán area, Guerrero

Leather, paint, metal, boar hair, painted cloth

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.42

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.154

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Carnival Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.107

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Zitlala or Acatlán area, Guerrero

Wood, paint, animal teeth, boar tusks and hair, mirrors

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.175.

 

Tigre (Tiger / Jaguar) Mask 20th century

Mexico

wood, paint, animal teetch, animal hair, raffia

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.202

 

El Duende (Lord of the Forest) Mask 20th century

Olinalá, Guerrero

Wood, leather, paint, boar tusks and hair, glass

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2005.119.4

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SECTION 9 - WALL TEXT]

 

Deer

 

Deer play seminal roles in Holy Week pageants throughout Mexico, and are especially important to a variety of performances among the Yaquis and Mayos whose dance rituals combine Christian, 18th-century Spanish and indigenous stories. One concerns the petition of pardon from the animals for the need to kill a deer for food. During the dance, one of the hunters is transformed into the deer's younger brother in exchange for the taken animal.

 

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo

Wood, paint

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.75

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Tocuaro, Michoacán

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.92

 

Deer Mask 20th century

Carpinteros, Hidalgo.

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2004.105.162

 

 

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[GRAPHICS: A MAP OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA {INCLUDING ALASKA} WHICH LOCATES THE NATIVE PEOPLES REPRESENTED IN THE EXHIBIT]

 

[WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

Woven Wonders: Native American Basketry

 

Basketry is the world's oldest craft tradition. Present at the dawn of civilization, it survives today with scant technical change yet nearly limitless aesthetic variability.

 

Baskets served all facets of food gathering and production prior to the discovery of pottery making. Beyond the field and hearth, baskets stored countless household items, from hunting and agricultural tools to clothes, body adornments and domesticated animals.

 

Among Native Americans, baskets have touched every facet of daily life, from cradle to grave, and also serve as obligatory containers and symbols during social and religious rites. Special baskets envelop ritual objects of great sanctity, shielding them from the profane world and protecting people from their extraordinary power.

 

The English word "basket" comes from the Welsh "basgawd", meaning "a weaving of sticks". Made from the most basic of materials -sticks, grasses and ferns-their creation is a time-consuming process, from the careful harvesting of plant fibers, their dyeing and preparation for weaving, and finally the careful fashioning of the piece. Typically the work of women, a study of basketry highlights the feminine half of society, and their resourcefulness, inventive genius, and patience.

 

 

[GROUPING 1 - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

Basketry Traditions of the Southwest

 

Basketry developed in the Southwest before 1000 B.C.E. (1000 B.C.) among a culture know as the Basketmakers, so-named because of the amazing quality and vitality of their woven artifacts. By the end of the 19th Century, basketry hovered on the brink of extinction yet was saved by the 1880 arrival of the railroad and the new tourist market. Today, Native basketry traditions in the Southwest are highly varied, reflecting the distinctiveness of each culture group (tribe) and their complex histories of interaction.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 1-A one basket]

 

Lorraine Black. Diné (Navajo), 1970-

Tray 1994

Coiled natural materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.30

 

The best Diné (Navajo) basket makers have risen to the challenge of converting an idea or legend into a successful visual program adapted to the circular surface of a tray and the structural limitations of the coil method. This tray exemplifies the new, creative environment and its artists' innovations of color and design.

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-B]

 

Apache Basketry

 

The Apaches, northern immigrants into the Southwest, were divided by ancient politics into two groups. The western Apaches in Arizona used baskets in all daily activities due to the scarcity of pottery. Today, their wide bowls and trays are coveted by collectors because of the bold designs which visually explode from a central black circle but yet are contained by the vessels' black rims.

 

The eastern groups in New Mexico include the Jicarilla Apaches, celebrated for their sturdy baskets that push the boundaries of form and design yet maintain traditional aesthetic sensibilities. The exceptionlly fine, coiled jar features a classic, diagonal motif of interlocked triangles.

 

Coiled Tray with Lightening and Cloud Pattern circa 1930

White Mountain Apache

Devil's claw and other natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.9

 

Jar-shaped Basket circa 1910

Jicarilla Apache

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.10

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-C]

 

O'odham Basketry

 

Southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico are the ancestral home of the Akimel O´odham (Pima), or ´´River People´´, and the Tohono O´odham (Papago), or ´´Desert People´´. Their forced move onto reservations dramatically changed their life ways, and many basket forms disappeared from daily use and common production. Basket making was revived in response to the late 19th Century tourist market and wage economy, the O'odham artists weaving small bowls and novelty forms such as dolls and animals. O'odham baskets are celebrated for dramatic yet delicate design motifs.

 

Basket circa 1910

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.31

 

Basket circa 1935

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Coiled natural plant materials

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.3

 

Owl Effigy Basket circa 1940

Tohono O'odham (Papago)

Devil's claw and yucca fibers

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.134

 

---

[SUBGROUP 1-D]

 

Norma Antone. Tohono O'odham (Papago)., 1937-

Tray circa 1993

Horsehair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.2

 

Tray circa 1982

Tohono O'odham (Papago)

Horsehair

Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.4

 

Norma Antone is among the few Tohono O´odham basket artists who specialize in small trays woven with horse hair and decorated with intricate designs, such as the tray featuring a serpent encircled by two rows of human figures. The small tray on the right (artist unknown) is constructed with exceptionally fine horse hairs and embellished with human figures.

 

---

 

[SUBGROUP 1-E]

 

Hopi Basketry

 

The western Hopi of First, Second, and Third Mesas in Arizona are distinguished from their New Mexico Pueblo cousins by a dynamic basketry tradition and religious principles based on the katsinas, sacred spirits responsible for bringing life-giving rain.

 

Katsina images often decorate flat trays or plaques. Trays hold piki bread, a maize-based food, served to katsina dancers during ritual ceremonies. Plaques are carried during religious ceremonies and are made by brides as gifts for the participants in their marriage celebrations.

 

 

Basket circa 1930

Hopi, Third Mesa

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.28

 

Tall Basket circa 1915

Hopi, Third Mesa

Wicker technique using natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.32

 

Bertha Wadsworth. Hopi, Second Mesa, 1937-

Tray or Plaque circa 1994

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.33

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[GROUPING 2 - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

 

Basketry Traditions of the Great Basin and California

 

The Great Basin and adjacent regions of California were inhabited by many culture groups (tribes) prior to the coming of Europeans in the 17th Century. The Washo, who have lived on the western edge of the Great Basin for hundreds of years, are related to tribes in northwestern California including the Hupa, and the Pomo, Maidu and Yokut of California's lush Central Valley. Basketry remains an important art form among these peoples in spite of three hundred years of inter-tribal warfare and the invasion of Europeans and Americans, which dramatically altered Native life ways.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-A]

 

Twined Conical Seed Basket circa 1900

Washo

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.6

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-B ­ one basket]

 

Bowl late 19th century

Pomo

Coiled natural plant materials and beads

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.14

 

Pomo basket makers are renowned for their distinctive addition of feathers and beads to augment the woven designs.

 

 

[SUBGROUPING 2-C ­ one basket]

 

Coiled Basket with "Scatter Design" circa 1900

Maidu

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.19

 

Maidu basketry is distinguished by its "scatter designs" that disperse images throughout the basket, such as the human figures embellishing this example.

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-D ­ one basket]

 

Tray circa 1900

Yokut

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.15

 

 

[SUBGROUP 2-E ]

 

Woman's Hat circa 1920

Hupa

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.18

 

Woman's Special Occasion Hat late 19th century

Hupa

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.17

 

The Hupa are among the best basket makers of California. They are celebrated for their unique women's hats, the repertoire including everyday hats, widows' hats and those for special occasions, exemplified by the ultimate in fine craftsmanship and aesthetics.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[GROUPING 3 ­ NORTHWEST COAST - TEXT PANEL AND LABELS]

 

Basketry Traditions of the Northwest Coast

 

The Northwest Coast of the United States and the adjacent littoral of British Columbia and Alaska are home to myriad Native tribes comprising a vibrant patchwork of humanity which may be divided into three large groups based on geography. The basketry arts have not disappeared among these peoples due, in part, to the amazing technical skill and artistry that caught the early attention of European traders, settlers and collectors. By 1900, a robust collecting culture had matured which provided a steady, cash-based market to support basket artists.

 

----

[NORTHWEST COAST SUBGROUP 3-A]

 

Puget Sound Basketry Traditions

 

Among Puget Sound's Salish and Makah peoples, basketry always has been at the center of daily life, the gathering or carrying basket being among the most useful forms. Today, the region is home to one of theworld's most vibrant basketry traditions, its weavers maintaining the highest standards of craftsmanship while pushing the boundaries of form and decoration to create innovative works.

 

Carrying Basket circa 1930

Salish

Coiled natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.24

 

Basket circa 1920

Makah

Twined natural plant materials

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.23

 

----

[NORTHWEST COAST SUBGROUP 3-B]

 

Tlingit Basketry

 

The Tlingit of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia believe that the art of basketry was a gift from Raven in mythological times when humans and spirit beings shared lives and loves.

 

Each of the distinctive Tlingit basketry techniques and decorative modes has a Native name and meaning. Tlingit basket artists are famous for open-work creations that hold their seemingly delicate form in spite of the rigors of use and time. Among the more exceptional forms is the lidded work basket with hollow, rattling lid.

 

Open-Work Basket with Rattle Lid circa 1900

Tlingit

Twined natural plant materials, tiny pellets (inside lid)

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.25A-B

 

Work Basket with Rattle Lid circa 1910

Tlingit, southern Alaska or northern British Columbia

Twined natural plant materials, tiny pellets (inside lid)

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.26A-B

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[GROUPING 4 ­ MEXICO - TEXT PANEL & LABEL]

 

Basketry Traditions of Northern Mexico

 

Baskets are universal accoutrements of daily life throughout the world. Among indigenous peoples in northern Mexico, baskets remain key, domestic accoutrements and follow time-honored forms including the bowl, jar and lidded container.

 

Large Jar-shaped Basket 20th Century

Tarahumara, Cerrocahua area, Chihuahua

Diagonal, plaited twill

Promised Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2008.61.5.1

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[GROUPING 5 - ONE OBJECT WITH NO ADDITIONAL WALL TEXT PANEL]

 

Contemporary Basketry in North Carolina

 

Billie Ruth Suddeth. American, 1945-

Twill Basket 1998

Japanese twill weave

Promised Gift Gretchen and Nelson Grice. PG2003.63.27

 

This exceptional artwork by renowned North Carolina basket maker Billie Ruth Sudduth is inspired by myriad sources including Cherokee and other Native American basket artists and the arithmatic theories of 13thcentury mathematician and savant Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa).

Editor's note:

Dr. Dorie Reents-Budet of Durham, NC is visiting curator of the arts of the ancient Americas at the Museum. Dr. Budet provided the wall panel and object label texts included in this article.

RL readers may also enjoy:

• Native American Art

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