In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Guatemalan traje, including small bags, is distinct to specific municipalities and provides a visual identity to those who know the language. Distinctive bag traits are size, shape, design, color, material, and technique. While many are made from colorful cotton or wool and stand out to the casual observer, focusing exclusively on maguey bags illustrates differences as well. The construction techniques of looping, linking, knitting, and weaving are one way to distinguish them. other variations are strap construction , strap length, and strap attachment to the bag. Another feature is pita softness and color based on fiber-extraction methods and maguey species. Bags made from fibers extracted using fire or water are yellow in color compared with those made from raw maguey extractions, which are white. The maguey fiber of Concepción is softer than that of Cotzal due to the species harvested, and this is evident in the final product. Another contrast between looped bags of these two regions is that those of Concepción have a long strap and a loop, whereas Cotzal bags have two straps and no loop. The knit bags of San Marcos la Laguna have one long strap and a short one with a loop at the end. In Chichi there is one long strap and a very short strap with a loop. The final row of “finger-knit” bags from San Marcos is figure-eight looped, whereas the final row in Chichi bags is cast off, as in “true” knitting. The knit maguey bags found in the Sololá and El Quiché regions closely resemble the wool ones of the same areas. The actual method for manipulating the knitting needles is different in each location but most likely originated from the same concept. The linked bags of San Andrés Huista are unique to the country of Guatemala, but only because of the population’s migration from a larger area where linking is prevalent to a locale where looping dominates. Linking is common in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and I am unsure of its history there. Appendix 1 The Language of the Bag 134 APPENDIX 1 Bags made in the central (San Juan Sacatepéquez) and eastern (Comapa and olopa) highlands are constructed from a warp-faced, plain-woven cloth. Loom-woven bags are more varied than looped ones. The basic square woven bag is made leaving warp ends that are wrapped and become the handles, in part because it is difficult to weave right up to the ends of the warp. Sembradores have one selvaged side and the other is left long, finished with braids. Caristas and glincas are introduced styles and use the same type of woven fabric as do standard bags. The fancy bags and saddlebags of San Juan Sacatepéquez require greater weaving skills than do the standard bags made in the East. This is unsurprising because women of this municipality are superb backstrap weavers and maguey weavers probably absorbed their techniques. Looped morrales are made in both regions and could also be the traditional bag style, with woven bags (easier and much quicker to make) a later development, although, in areas where backstrap looms are used for weaving traje, it seems that looped or knit bags are more common. This could be because usually it is the men who make and use the bags, as is the custom , and they probably determined early on that looping was easier and more portable. I believe that the Cobán macramé bags in the Museo Ixchel’s collection are uncommon and that most likely a tourist or development worker introduced the technique to maguey workers. Cross-knit looped bags are also rare because they are labor intensive and require much maguey. The visual language of the net bag extends beyond Guatemala—in towns where tourists congregate I often see maguey bags from Mexico, Panama, Columbia, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Ecuador. Each one is noticeably different in shape, pattern, and technique and thus reveals its origin to those who know the language. ...

Share