Poncho

About this object

History of use

Warp-faced fabrics with three or four selvedges are woven by women on the indigenous style loom, a staked-out horizontal ground loom, or an adjustable tension (body) loom. The technique and structure have pre-Conquest antecedents, and as in ancient times, the fabrics are used in their rectangular form without cutting or shaping. Ponchos of this style are not regionally specific. Men who have left their village to live or work wear a neutral coloured poncho with plain stripes. Village men, when they go outside their community, frequently wear this style of poncho to disguise their village origins. In earlier centuries, Spanish colonials wore this type of poncho.

Narrative

Made by Candelaria Cruz Machaca for her husband, Augustin Quispe Mamani, shortly after they were married 26 years before it was purchased for the Museum.

Cultural context

men;outside community

Specific techniques

Plain colour areas or stripes are warp-faced plain weave. Yarns spun z and plied 2-s. Warp-faced plain weave with coloured warp stripes. Constructed by sewing together 2 four selvedge pieces with a flat, figure 8 stitch on the long side, but leaving a central gap for the neck slit. A separately woven warp-faced band is stitched around the perimeter.

Physical description

Black rectangular, woven wool poncho with a neck slit and stripes in grey shades near the sides. Constructed of two rectangles panels sewn together in the middle. The outer edges are bound by separate woven strips of black and grey fabric. Corners are rounded by folding back.