Embroidered Manta

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Embroidered Manta

Place of OriginAcoma Pueblo

Datec. 1850

Dimensions44 × 49 1/2 in. (111.8 × 125.7 cm)

MediumLac- dyed raveled yarns, indigo and natural brown/ black handspun yarns

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LineGift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society

Object number

2017.13

Not on View

DescriptionThis manta has a twill- woven undecorated brown/ black center, with each end of the textile elaborately decorated with near mirror- image panels. The embroidered designs on the manta combine the Spanish floral motif with prehistoric design elements from the Anasazi. Contained with the iconography of the manta’s border are abstracted depictions of parrots and water bugs, both of which have a special meaning to the Acoma tribe. The red pigment on this manta comes from lac dye, which derives from the resin and wax mixture secretion from the Southwest insect Laccifer lacca.

Label TextThis textile, known as a “manta,” is a woman’s shawl from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. Embroidered Acoma mantas are generally considered to be the rarest category of Pueblo wearing blankets. Only approximately 35 historical embroidered Acoma mantas exist in museums and private hands. The embroidered designs on the manta combine Spanish floral motifs with design elements from the Ancestral Puebloans, or Anasazi. Contained in the pattern of the manta’s border are abstracted depictions of parrots and water bugs, both of which have a special meaning to the Acoma tribe. Pueblo weaving was completed by the men of the community on a standing, vertical loom. The textile is woven using a diagonal twill float weave where both warp and weft are visible. The wool was spun with precision, with the deep brown color carded from belly wool. Indigo was used to dye lighter wool blue for the decorative motifs. The red pigment on this manta comes from lac dye, which derives from the resin and wax secretion of the lac insect.