NOTES
The intricate pattern of this wearing blanket achieves a striking sense of tension between the central diamond figure and the repeating, small-scale background. Featuring one of the most complex designs of its era, this textile was likely created by specialist weavers at a small workshop north of Mexico City.
Often called Saltillo serapes, these garments circulated widely across colonial Mexico (New Spain), including Santa Fe and Taos in the present-day United States. One of the major venues for trade in the colonial era was an annual fair in Saltillo, today the state capital of Coahuila, Mexico.
