 
 
  
|
OAXACAN CRAFTS:
woodcarving, pottery, basketery, weaving, textiles and embroidery
Hand Woven Rugs
The Zapotecs were weaving in the valleys of Oaxaca as long ago as 500 B.C., and traded their fine cotton textiles all over Mesoamerica. After being conquered by the Aztecs, their textiles were a major tribute item. Following the Spanish Conquest, the weavers were put to work by the Dominican friars repairing their habits, which were wearing out faster than they could get them from Spain. Around 1560 the Bishop gave Spanish Merino sheep to weavers in Teotitlán and Santa Ana del Valle. This wool is prized for the length of its fibers, which produces a stronger fabric and makes spinning thread easier. The wool industry was one of the most important in New Spain, second only to mining, with 80% of the land devoted to sheep and goats. Today most of the wool in Teotitlán comes from the Mixtec town of San Bartolo Chichicapa in the Oaxacan mountains. The good weavers hoard the best wool until they have enough for their prize pieces.
The friars also taught the Zapotec men to use the foot pedal or treadle upright loom, the method still employed today to make serapes, rugs and tapestries. The treadle loom separates the different warp threads automatically, which makes it faster to send the shuttle through them carrying the weft fibers. Indian women continued to make their traditional huipiles and other clothing out of cotton on backstrap looms. The Spaniards also taught them to use the European method of carding the raw wool and the newly-invented spinning wheel, which is faster than a hand spindle but produces a lighter thread and rugs. Indian women today still prefer the pre-Hispanic long, slender spindle stick weighted by a clay whorl. Not only does this wool make better rugs, but also they can sit on their mats in a group and gossip! While the left hand feeds the raw wool to the top of the spindle, the right hand keeps it rotation, and the thread wraps around the spindle. The thread should be smooth (without lumps), and very resistant.
A buyer should be sensitive to differences in the quality of the wool weavings. A good piece will be tightly woven, perhaps 20 threads to the inch; the poorer ones have as few as 10. The denser rugs last longer, keep their shape better whether on the floor or the wall and always look better. If a rug has a cotton warp it will be stronger and have more body, but the all-wool rugs are softer and more valued. Good rugs should have straight edges and lie flat. The dye shouldn’t run when wet. (Try dipping a corner in water and squeezing it on a kleenex.) The cheaper rugs may be dyed with less care; it seems to be the brightest aniline dyes that are most treacherous: strong reds, bright blues and turquoise. Natural dyes are prepared very carefully and laboriously, not only in respect to variety and subtlety of the colors, but also how well the mordant or fixer is mixed in (usually lime juice, sometimes the leaves of bejuco, a tropical tree).
|
 |
After the introduction of chemical dyes in the 1920’s (tourists started buying in the 1930’s), natural dyes went out of style for a time but were revived and are enjoying a renaissance. They have a subtle beauty no chemical dye can match and do not rub off or fade. The weaver Isaac Vásquez García is credited with being the first to employ these dyes, which are concocted from a large variety of plant, animal and mineral sources. Among these are lichen, twigs, berries, flowers, pecan bark, walnut husks, huisache seed husks (for black), alfalfa and pirul leaves for green, and “guaje” husks for reddish brown. Rock moss makes a bright yellow, plant moss a browner yellow, and combined they make many variations. For green, yellow and indigo can be combined; for purple, red and indigo are mixed if the weavers don’t have sea-snail ink dye from the Coast. The secrets of mixing these dyes are guarded and handed down from one generation to another.
 |
Certain natural dyes have been prized and important trade items since pre-Hispanic times. Indigo from the leaves of the a–il plant produces a deep blue-black and is bought in hard lumps from towns on the Pacific Coast, only needing to be boiled in water to make the dye. The deep magentas (and lighter, diluted reds) come from a dye made from the cochineal insect that lives on the red juice of the nopal cactus. After grinding up hundreds of these tiny mites, they are boiled and lime juice added. The sea-snail purple dye, squeezed from these mollusks after they have been taken off rocks in the sea (and replaced), is a business of the Amusgo and Chontal Indians on the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca.
|
It washes to a beautiful lavender eventually, and is combined in coast village weavings with natural white and brown (coyuche) cotton. Some weavers in Teotitlán use it as well, but the supply is not always dependable.
The Central Valley towns producing good woven wool products today are Teotitlán del Valle, with Santa Ana del Valle second in importance, San Miguel del Valle, and Díaz Ordaz. The last three produce less than Teotitl‡n, the most important town of the Zapotec culture at its height, once again famous because of rugs. In all four towns the weavers employ the same techniques, motifs and colors. The “greca” or Greek frieze, inspired by the intricate stone reliefs on the pre-Hispanic buildings in Mitla are thought to have originated in antiquity. If you take a close look at the temple reliefs, it is apparent that they were put together like an intricate weaving. The traditional rug until about 50 years ago was in sober greys, black and variations of white and natural color wools. The design was of a deer and a jaguar with flowers growing from their backs, or a large center rosette called the “Zapotec Sun” or the “Flower of Oaxaca”. End borders were done in black and white. Arnulfo Mendoza, a weaver who has dedicated himself to reviving old patterns, uses wool and silk to make very tightly woven rugs with a serrated edge borders in predominantly dark reds, yellows and black. The appearance of this design in Oaxaca is interesting; it is familiar from the famous Saltillo (Coahuila) serapes of 19th century México and their cousins made by the Navajo. The traditional textiles from Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, also have similar patterns.
In the 1950’s, after the opening of the Pan American Highway, which runs through Oaxaca and not far from Teotitlán del Valle, tourism increased and design motifs were introduced from the work of 20th century European artists (Picasso, Miró, Escher). In recent years, many other innovations have taken place in the Oaxaca wool textiles industry. Advanced techniques such as tapestry weaving, which permits the inclusion of geometric motifs, birds, horses, and garlands of flowers, have reached their height in the elaborate scenes of pre-Colombian murals and codices from the workshop of Isaac Vásquez.
Preserving
a Tradition
Backstrap Weaving |
|
A really interesting part of visiting these villages is not only buying rugs, but also meeting the weavers and their ample families, all expert spinners, dyers, weavers, and merchants. They are happy to do demonstrations, explain the natural dyeing process and show their looms and wares. The local museum in Teotitlán gives a good explanation of the history of weaving. The religious festivals in this village, where tradition is among the most persistent in the valleys, are quite spectacular (the Fiesta of the Precious Blood of Christ, the most important, is celebrated the 1st Wednesday of July through the following Sunday). The festivals include Guelaguetza ceremonies and dances from other villages and the famous Plumed Dancers performing in the churchyard, an interpretation of the Conquest. The weavers’ 20th century prosperity has not hurt the level of celebration any.
|
A word should be said about serapes, the famous wool blanket that was once the symbol of Mexican manhood; his cloak, blanket, trench coat, and burial cloth, the male equivalent of the rebozo. The serape or “sarape” is a descendant of the pre-Colombian man’s square or rectangular cotton cloak the “tilmatl” and the Spanish blanket. A serape went everywhere with the countryman, if not wrapped around him then folded and worn over one shoulder. A serape with a split makes a poncho, to be worn over the head. Two sewn together make a blanket, but a better-wearing blanket is made from the double-weave technique which leaves a slight ridge. Serapes and blankets are not made today as often as rugs, and may have to be special-ordered.
|
There are a number of ways to get to Teotitlan del Valleor other craft villages in the central valleys of Oaxaca. There are group excursions as well as individual tours available.
|
 |
 MAP OF OAXACA CENTRAL VALLEYS: Archeological sites and craft villages.
Archeological sites in Oaxaca: Monte Albán, Mitla, Yagul, Dainzu, Mogote.
Craft villages in the central valleys of Oaxaca: Tottitlan del Valle (weaving), Atzompa (greeen pottery), Arazola (wood carving), San Bartolo Coyotepec (black pottery), Ocotlan (clay figures, woven baskets).
|
