Embroidery

NameEmbroidery

Maker Policarpio Valencia

CultureHispano

Dateca. 1927

Place madeSanta Cruz, New Mexico, United States, North America

MediumWool, cotton

DimensionsOverall: 59 13/16 x 44 1/8 in. (152 x 112 cm)

Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, Gift of Mrs. Cornelia G. Thompson, A8.1954.1

Object numberA8.1954.1

ProvenanceCornelia G. Thompson, a collector active in the Taos Art Colony, acquired this embroidery. She later sold it to Eleanor Bedell, who operated an antique shop with Susan Girard, wife of the designer Alexander Girard, on East Palace Avenue in downtown Santa Fe. In 1950, E. Boyd (Curator of Spanish Colonial Arts at the Museum of New Mexico) bought it from Bedell for $75 (about $983 today) with funds from the Museum of New Mexico.

DescriptionThe Rio Grande blanket that serves as this artwork’s foundation appears handwoven with handspun warp and weft threads of churro wool, suggesting it was made before the 1890s. As seen from the reverse side, the original striped design features serrated diamond motifs. Large portions have been patched with material from cotton feed sacks. Valencia visually transformed the front side with a dense cover of abstract embroidery and included a surprise message on the back—a humorous warning not to steal this textile. A printed feed sack logo underneath the embroidery is present.

The surprise message embroidered on this blanket’s backside follows the formula of a traditional Spanish “ex-libris.” An ex-libris is a bookplate or written inscription placed in the front pages of a book to identify who owns it. Spanish versions often start with the phrase, “si este libro se perdiera” (if this book should get lost), followed by a humorous poem to deter thieves. Nasario García, a leading authority on New Mexican Spanish who helped the museum translate Valencia’s messages, was taught a similar poem by his grade school teacher when he was growing up in Bernalillo in the 1940s.

In English, Valencia’s embroidered poem reads:
If this item gets lost, as it is bound to happen, I beg whoever finds it knows how to give it back to me. If he should be long of fingernails or short of understanding, I beg him to remember the Seventh Commandment is everything.

Policarpio Valencia
Santa Cruz, New Mexico