Vintage Huipil from Chichicastenango, Guatemala c. 1950

Vintage Huipil from Chichicastenango, Guatemala c. 1950 Ceremonial Huipil  Natural Brown Cotton with Silk Embroidery Aguila Encefala (Double Headed Eagle Design)

Anonymous Artisan

Textiles

Ht. 28″ x W. 43″ 

The double headed eagle design in this Chichicastenango huipil is hand embroidered with silk thread on natural brown cotton. The origin of the double-headed eagle design, so common now in Guatemalan and Mexican indigenous art, is disputed. Many examples exist in pre-Hispanic art, but it was also a common European symbol and may have been brought over by the Spanish as well.