Huipil
Blouse, early 20th century
Guatemala
cotton
75-8-220.1
One
gallery that gets close attention from
teachers is the Museum’s rich collection
of art from the countries that lie to
the south of the United States. One reason
for the popularity of the Mexican, Central
& South American Gallery’s collection
is that it provides an opportunity for
teachers, just as the founding Director
Dr. Levi Mengel intended, to address first
hand the basis for our own cultural development.
There
is a misconception among many children
that the term “native American”
refers to just the Indians of North America.
The reality is that many indigenous peoples
of both Central and South America are
also “native” Americans. The
Incan peoples of Peru and the Aztecs of
Mexico are all Native Americans. That
is, these people lived in the Western
Hemisphere prior to its colonization by
Europeans.
The
Maya people and the Mayan civilization
of Central America are good examples of
what teachers focus on in their geography
and history classes. The great artistic
achievements of the Mayans, dating from
2,000 B.C., include their elaborate calendar,
writing, palaces, and temple pyramids
with vaulted burial chambers. These achievements
parallel, and even surpass, the early
development of Western civilization as
it unfolded in Egypt and the Middle East.
Another
term that is sometimes misconstrued is
“Pre-Columbian,” and again
teachers use the Museum’s collection
as a reference. Pre-Columbian refers to
the people living in the Western Hemisphere
prior to its “discovery” by
Columbus. Pre-Columbian art, therefore,
is art created by those pre-Columbus people.
What has happened after the “discovery”
is the colonization by Europeans of the
“new world.” While primarily
people from northern Europe settled North
America, people from Spain and Portugal
settled the countries to the south. In
1517-1521 when Mexico was being colonized
by the Spanish explorer Cortez it was
known as “New Spain.” (Still
another term that sometimes requires definition
is the term “Indian” which
is what all peoples of the Western Hemisphere
were labeled by Columbus and his European
backers in the mistaken belief that they
had sailed around the world and come to
India.)
The
Reading Public Museum has a rich collection
of both Pre- and Post-Columbian art created
by the people of Mexico, Central and South
America. We have selected as Museum treasures
two pieces that represent both Pre- and
Post-Columbian art.
Many
of the Zapotec funerary urns of the pre-Columbian
Aztec civilizations were found in the
antechambers of tombs or in the graves
themselves. However they have all been
empty, and the customs associated with
their use are unknown. Some of the figure
urns depict the people in rich garments,
exuberant headdresses made to resemble
animal fur and exotic bird feathers with
a profusion of jeweled ornaments, suggesting
a god, or at least a high priest. It would
have been placed at the entrance of the
tomb to protect the burial. Once brightly
painted, this urn depicting the god Cocijo,
god of lightning and rain, as evidenced
by his forked tongue and massive headdress.
These sensitively executed figures were
never completely realistic. Many show
no facial expression of joy or grief,
although they suggest an inner calm and
resignation.
A
Huipil is a straight slipover one-piece
garment that is made by folding a rectangle
of material end to end, sewing up the
straight sides but leaving openings near
the folded top for the arms, and cutting
a slit or a square in the center of the
fold to furnish an opening for the head,
worn as a blouse or dress. This huipil
is of all white, hand-woven cotton with
typical motifs brocaded in the thin material
like shadow work. A deep yoke of embroidery
in colored silks trims the neck and bottoms
of sleeves. This huipil usually is reserved
for “best” another that is
commonly worn has a dark ground (often
blue) and is brocaded in white and many
colors. All are short and usually hang
loosely over the skirt.
