Description (Physical description)
Hand-woven open weave white cotton huipil with brocade design work. Woven in three panels in the picb'il style on a single headle backstrap loom in the community of Campat, in the Alta Verapaz of Guatemala. Rectangular in shape, with no collar cut out. Panels joined, no sleeves formed. Selvage edges left untrimmed or hemmed (as is traditional). Panels joined with hand-stitched carpet stitch. Inlaid patterns feature Corn plants, human figures with hand on waist and raised hand situated in diamond pattern. Produced entirely using number 22 white cotton thread produced in San Salvador, El Salvador.
Event Date 18/3/2019
Author: rachel hand

Context (Field collection)
Purchased by Callie Vandewiele during her PhD field reserach as part of a Crowther-Beynon Grant from the Cooperative Hijas de Aj Po'op B'atz in the community of San Juan Chamelco in the Alta Verapaz of Guatemala. Vandewiele worked with the cooperative leadership committee to get permission for the collection and the huipil was one of two selected by the community for consideration. It was chosen on the advice of Margarita Ichich Beb, the committee secretary and a local weaver who believed it to best represent the skill and style of the community.
Event Date 18/3/2019
Author: rachel hand

Context (Production / use)
Traditional Q'eqchi' woman's blouse. Worn for both day-to-day work and for special events. Regular use has decreased in the region as women struggle to afford the cost of hand-woven huipils, however when able women preferentially purchase and use picb'il huipils in comparison to other hand-woven or mass produced huipils. Local communities widely believe that the picb'il huipil is the 'oldest' and 'most traditional' style still woven and worn in the region. Huipil is similar to 1962.151 held in the MAA collection since 1962 and collected by (NAME).

Event Date 18/3/2019
Author: rachel hand

Context (Display)
Exhibited in Looms of our Grandmothers: Picb'il textiles from Guatemala, 16 May – 6 October 2019.
Event Date 21/1/2020
Author: rachel hand

Conservation (Freezing)
CON.2024.6032 | Freezing
Event Date 2/10/2024
Author: Kirsty Kernohan

Description (Physical description)
P'ot. Rectangular hand-woven open weave white cotton huipil with brocade design and no collar cut out; work woven in three panels in the picb'il style on a single headle backstrap loom in the community of Campat, in the Alta Verapaz of Guatemala.


Event Date 16/9/2024
Author: Diana Serediuc