DepartmentTextiles-Hispano

Wool-on-cotton Colcha Embroidery

NameTextile, Colcha

Artist Artist not recorded

CultureHispano

Dateca. 1840-1865

Place madeNew Mexico, United States, North America

Place collectedCapulin, Colorado, United States

MediumCotton, wool, natural dyes, including cochineal

Dimensions83 7/16 × 55 1/8 in. (212 × 140 cm)

Credit LineFormer collection of Mary Cabot Wheelwright, E. Boyd Memorial Fund purchase for IFAF Collection, Museum of International Folk Art (FA.1975.28.1)

Object numberFA.1975.28.1

Collections

Rio Grande Textiles

DescriptionColcha embroidery, wool on commercial cotton ground. Floral motifs in yellows and tans, white, blues, and browns. Five separate borders of floral motifs surround the center motif of seven prancing deer.

By the time New Mexico became a United States Territory in 1848, commercial cotton cloth, fine plied yarn, and other goods were widely available, sent by caravans along the Santa Fe Trail. Colcha embroiderers embraced the new materials to create compositions with scattered motifs, leaving more ground fabric visible. As seen here, they also incorporated new designs inspired by a greater variety of imports, including calico cotton prints (paisleys) and crewelwork from the eastern United States (leaping deer).