THE ANSON W. HARD COLLECTION OF SALTILLO AND 

 CHIMAYO BLANKETS 



SOME very wonderful examples of American aboriginal weaving are 

 displayed at the northern end of the hall devoted to the Indians of 

 the Southwest. The exhibit consists of twenty-five Chimayo and 

 Saltillo blankets known as Mexican "zarapes" or "scrapes," purchased 

 for the Museum by Anson W. Hard in 1910. The weaving represented in 

 these blankets is now extinct and there is no way by which it can be imi- 

 tated exactly by machinery. Fine examples of the blankets are difficult 

 to obtain having received practically no attention from museums and 

 collectors, probably because thought until recently of Spanish origin instead 

 of Indian. 



It is well-known that the Navajo are the only extensive blanket-weaving 

 Indians of North America to-day. It is believed however, that if the full 

 story of weaving in this country prior to the coming of the white man were 

 known, we should find that the art was widespread through eastern, south- 

 ern, middle and western North America. This is thought to be the fact 

 not from the existence of samples of this weaving but from the evidence 

 of impressions of patterns of weaving on pottery preserved in these regions, 

 and from the relationships of the various North American tribes. Textiles 

 cannot long survive in a moist changing climate. It is only in dry regions 

 such as the Southwest and the coastal parts of Peru that delicate fabrics 

 could have been preserved. 



Throughout JSIexico scrapes were formerly much worn as ponchos or 

 simply carried over the shoulder. The great market for them was the town 

 of Saltillo in northern ]\Iexico. Chimayo blankets made by Chimaj'o 

 Indians of northern New Mexico, who are now practically extinct, are 

 thought to be the connecting link l)ctween Navajo and Saltillo weaving. 

 Four types of blanket weaving have been known — namely, among the 

 people of Peru, the Pueblos of New Mexico, heirs to the art of the ClifiF 

 Dwellers, the Navajo of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Indians of Alaska. 

 Little has been known of the textile art between Peru and tlie more northerly 

 centers. It is fortunate therefore that these examples of aboriginal weaving 

 from Saltillo have come into the possession of the Museum. 



Saltillo blankets are large, often measuring seven by ten feet, and show 

 very minute patterns for North American hand weaving. They are often 

 covered with a delicate tracery of design made bj' the combination of 

 small figures in harmonizing shades, although a few of the l)lankets have 



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