Well, mostly indigo, plus some other spectacular natural dyes that are used to color the threads of these twelve (12) beautifully back-strap loom woven scarves and shawls. Here, you will find alder wood bark (palo de aguila), wild marigold (pericone), banana tree bark, purple snail (caracol), coyuchi (native brown cotton), and cochineal (red bug) dyes. These pieces, from my personal collection, are from Michoacan and Oaxaca. All are in pristine condition, most never worn. (Remember, I’m not opening a textile museum!) I’ll explain in more detail with each piece. One size fits all! Perfect for holiday gifting — for her, him, they!
How to Buy: Send an email to norma.schafer@icloud.com and tell me the item(s) you want to purchase by number, your email, your mailing address and which payment method you prefer: 1) Zelle bank transfer with no service fee; 2) Venmo or 3) PayPal each with a 3% service fee. I will send you a request for funds and then add on a flat rate $14 mailing fee. Happy to combine shipping. Thank you. Note: Thank you for understanding that all sales are final. Please measure carefully!
SOLD 1. Indigo shawl embellished with caracol rare purple snail dye from the Oaxaca coast village of Pinotepa de Don Luis, created by the famous Tixinda cooperative led by Don Habacuc. This is an ample shawl that measures 23″ wide x 80″ long. 100% cotton. All natural dyes. $265.
SOLD #2. This was a prize winner at the Dreamweavers January 2021 expoventa in Puerto Escondido. It is a handwoven scarf made on the back strap loom with threads dyed with indigo, coyuchi, caracol purpura, and fuschine. Measures 9-3/4″ wide x 78″ long. 100% cotton. $165.
SOLD #3. Master weaver Roman Gutierrez from Teotitlan del Valle wove and dyed this shibori shawl colored with wild marigold and over-dyed with indigo. It measures 22-1/2″ wide x 76″ long. 100% cotton. $145.
SOLD 4. Another Tixinda cooperative shawl, a real beauty, woven with indigo, caracol, coyuchi and cochineal. Measures 26″ wide x 110″ long. $285.
SOLD 5. From the Mixe Oaxaca mountain village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, a very fine pedal loomed scarf created by Artefer, dyed with alder wood and banana bark. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. Wrap it around the neck twice for super comfort. $125.
#6. In Zinacantan, Chiapas, they create these beautiful hand-woven neck scarves — fold in a triangle and wear like a bandana! The pompoms serve as ties! Red, black, and peach. Great color combo. Not natural dyes. 25″ square. $75.
SOLD #7. This herringbone design from Tlahuitoltepec is made on the pedal loom with cotton threads dyed with indigo. Gorgeous scarf. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. $125.
8. Another fine shawl, lightweight and perfect for winter warmth from Tlahuitoltepec. It is woven with a cotton warp and wool weft. The cotton is dyed with banana bark and the wool weft is indigo. Measures 24″ wide x 96″ long. Wrap it around your body or use as a throw! $225.
9. What can I say? We will miss her. Recently deceased Cecelia Bautista Caballero wove this shawl in her village of Ahuiran, Michoacan. She hand tied the knots in the 13″ punta (fringe), too. I bought this from her when I visited her home in 2019. You can have a piece of Mexican weaving culture history with this shawl. Commercial dyes. A masterful textile, rare and beautiful. Measures 32″ wide x 110″ long. $445.
SOLD 10. This textile is a traditional technique from the coastal Oaxaca mountain village of Santiago Ixtlayutla, near Pinotepa de Don Luis, where I purchased it. The dye is fuschine, which some call cochineal, but it isn’t. It is a synthetic dye that adheres to the silk designs woven as supplementary weft into the cotton. The dye brings out the figures of religious symbols and animals typical to the region. The bleeding of the dye is actually what it does and is considered part of the design. Very beautiful and psychedelic! Measures 24″ wide x 88″ long. $295.
11. From my collection, vintage African mud cloth textile dyed with indigo. Good vintage condition. Some wear. Measures 27″ wide x 96″ long. The 12″ fringes are hand-twisted. $95.
SOLD. 12. Patzcuaro flower garden shawl measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. Made on the back-strap loom in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, by Teofila Servin Barriga, the most famous weaver-embroiderer on Lake Patzcuaro. The flowers are all embroidered using French knots and other embroidery stitches. It is stunning. Measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. $385.
SOLD.13. This is a masterpiece from Malinalco, Estado de Mexico, where ikat weaving reigns. Camelia Ramos learned rebozo weaving from her father and has passed it on to her children. She is recognized by Fundacion Banamex for her outstanding workmanship. This rebozo, from her studio Xoxopastli, is woven with threads dyed in cochineal and indigo, a rarity for this type of work. The punta or fringe is triangular in the Colonial style preferred by the Spanish women who came to Mexico after the conquest. It takes three months to weave the cloth and another three months to hand-knot the fringes. Measures 31″wide x 100″ long. $425.
Thank you once again for browsing and shopping with me. I very much appreciate your support and your dedication to our Mexican artisans. -Norma
Another Tlacolula Market Sunday, Fiesta of Our Lady of the Rosary
The festival of Our Lady of the Rosary — Fiesta de la Virgen del Rosario — is a big deal in Tlacolula de Matamoros, the county seat for the Tlacolula valley part of the Valles Centrales de Oaxaca.To give you a sense of it, I’ve changed the blog header once again.
Last Sunday huge crowds gathered under a huge tent for a noon mass in the church courtyard. The sanctuary isn’t large enough to contain everyone who gathered here from the surrounding villages.
Sunday market day in Tlacolula is always a treat and a special day to meet up with family members and friends, and to buy supplies. This Sunday feast day was even more so.
The streets were impassable because they had been set up with carnival rides, sideshows and a midway filled with carnival games. It was a juxtaposition to see women in traditional indigenous dress walking alongside bumper cars and pitch ball games.
What caught my attention was the big top tent right beside the church dome on the skyline.
We could tell this day was special. Women wore their most glittery rhinestone jewelry. Their blouses, skirts and aprons were embellished with sequins.
Families strolled with ice cream cones filled with Leche Quemada and topped with frozen Tuna nieves. That is NOT fish, folks! Children everywhere love cotton candy and Oaxaca is no exception.
Men come to shop for things like cane and iron tools. Women shop for scarves, shawls, aprons and food.
Sheri and I met up at the rebozo section where she was on a quest. These shawls are ikat dyed and woven with either cotton or artecel, a silky natural fiber that is a recent substitute for more costly silk.
The ikat shawl is a utilitarian part of the local costume used to wrap babies, groceries, wipe perspiration and shade the head from the sun. We often see women who wrap it turban-style and then perch a basket on top, child in in one hand, a satchel in the other.
What never ceases to fascinate me are the handwoven, tassled belts that hold up heavy wool loomed skirts, and braids tied with colorful ribbon.
After lunch at Comedor Mary, including some of the best Mole Coloradito in the world accompanied by a shared cold Victoria beer, we headed down the main thoroughfare on foot to fill our shopping cart with fresh papaya, mandarin oranges, limes and avocados to take home.
By now, it was late afternoon and time to go home. Sara and Woofy joined us later on the rooftop terrace as we sampled the San Juan del Rio mezcal I had bought the day before, accompanied by a fine sunset to close the day.
Tlacolula Sunday Market Low-down:
Oaxaca Portrait Photography Workshop starts January 30, 2015
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture
Tagged Ikat, Oaxaca, rebozos, scarves, shawls, Tlacolula market, woven