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Tuesday, December 09, 2008

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #5

Shawl (Rebozo) Late 18th c., Silk Plain Weave with Resist Dyeing and Silk and Gilt Thread Embroidery in Darning, Satin, and Outline Stitches; Knotted Fringe, 30 1/2 x 93 3/4 in. (Art during the Colonial Era)

This luxury garment, the Rebozo, is typical of colonial New Spain and post-colonial Mexico. This particular example is made entirely of silk: embroidery on a woven fabric which is done so expertly it is reversible (a very accomplished feat!). Many women of this time period spent lots of time mastering the art of embroidery. Time was not rushed and the many hours spent in producing a textile like this resulted in a garment that was highly valued. Silk was a luxury fiber then and this rebozo would have been owned by a wealthy woman, though the style was also produced in practical cotton affordable to women of the working and merchant class. These are not just decorative garments, but are also very utilitarian as this website demonstrates.

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