Private collection, Providence; James Jeter, New World Arts Collection, Santa Barbara, California, 1976; Mark Winter, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Jim Collins, Woody Creek, Colorado, 1981; George Shaw, Aspen; Atlantic Art Partners I LLC, New York, 1986; LACMA, 2021.

The pulsating patterns and distinctive composition of Saltillo sarapes reflect a uniquely Mexican identity that combines textile traditions from Mesoamerica and Spain. These luxury textiles are closely associated with the wealthy horsemen of Northern Mexico’s sprawling network of haciendas that developed in the viceregal period. Named after the city of Saltillo, a prestigious weaving and trade center in the state of Coahuila, Sarapes were worn by all social classes, differentiated by the fineness of the yarns and complexity of the woven patterns, with the Saltillo sarape representing the grandest and most sophisticated style of all. The extremely fine workmanship of this example is consistent with the oldest and rarest extant examples, which date to the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Clarissa M. Esguerra in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 46, pp. 211–14)