Gift of Thomas Watters, Jr.

Hand woven rug with two flower-like designs, surrounded by a geometric pattern. In the centre of each flower there are orange, purple and black squares. Around these squares are green petal-like shapes. There is a border with a similar geometric pattern surrounding the inner design. The border has a thick black line on either side of it. There is a white fringe running along each end of the rug.

This carpet is most likely a prayer rug used in church that belonged to an elite woman in Spanish colonial Peru. Its design features a man and woman attended by an enslaved black figure. The woman dons upper-class European attire, a social signifier embraced by wealthy Creoles (American-born Spaniards) to underscore their socio-racial and cultural ties to the Old World. Despite their unprecedented purchasing power, Creoles lacked political equity. The resulting tension paved the way for the many wars of independence from Spain in the nineteenth century.

Gift of Thomas Watters, Jr.

Gift of Thomas Watters, Jr.

Watercolor of two women sitting on a rug hold pottery. Oqwa Pi (Abel Sanchez) was one of several promising painters who learned the basics for mural painting and watercolor at the Santa Fe Indian School. Moving back to San Ildefonso Pueblo, he led an active life as a religious leader and statesman, holding the Tribal Governor position for six terms. In addition to raising his large family through his farming and fulfilling his extensive community obligations, he maintained a lucrative artistic career, fitting in painting between feast days and using his dining room as a studio. His work features scenes of secular ceremonies and of his community daily life. The San Ildefonso Pueblo walls, unlike many other Pueblos, did not have murals in their kivas. So the influences came from paintings found at Frijoles Canyon where figures were painted on an undecorated ground, often also found on ceramics. Thus the only grounding in this work is the women on top of the rug although the rug appears to be floating. The traditionally dressed figures appear to interact more with the viewer of than with each other. However the accuracy of the clothing, pottery styles and rug designs are accurately depicted.

FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "MAT.---WOVEN OF COLORED COTTON AND WOOLEN RAGS; ROUND CORNER. LENGTH 5 FEET. WIDTH 3 FEET 4 INCHES. CLALLAM INDIANS, WASHINGTON TER., 1876. 23,425. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN."

FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "RAG CARPET.---WOVEN BY CLALLAM ... [WOMEN] IN NATIVE FRAME AND WITH NATIVE APPARATUS. CLALLAM INDIANS (SALISHAN STOCK), WASHINGTON. 23,429. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN. THIS SPECIMEN IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THE SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT ABORIGINAL STITCH AND TECHNIQUE ON MATERIALS USED BY THE WHITE MAN. THE WORK IS DONE IN "TWINED WEAVING" A PROCESS UNKNOWN AMONG CIVILIZED [sic] PEOPLES."