Hispanic Textiles at Couse-Sharp Historic Site

In addition to textiles from the Couse collection, most of the historic textiles on view will be from the unparalleled lifetime collections of Mark and Linda Winter, modern-day traders to the Diné people at their Historic Toadlena Trading Post on the Navajo Nation, and James H. Collins, an astute collector based in Colorado. Mark Winter is guest curator for the exhibition. A selection of contemporary works that evolved out of the Southwest traditions will also be included.

“We’re thrilled and grateful to have such amazing examples from unparalleled collections,” said Davison Koenig, executive director and curator at Couse-Sharp Historic Site. “It’s a rare opportunity to see beautiful and colorful textiles that are usually hidden deep in the storage vaults of institutions.”

Mark Winter noted that the exhibition will include Sarapes along with Colchas and Mantas from various styles, as well as loom types representing several hundred years of shared textile traditions—all of which would have passed through Taos as important trade goods. “The two primary textile categories will be early Saltillo Sarapes and Rio Grande blankets from Old and New Mexico. These ‘wearing blankets’ were made to protect against the elements and serve as beautiful adornment,” Winter explained.

Throughout this large region, multiple groups of “prehistoric” Indigenous inhabitants developed the use of the simple upright loom and wove sophisticated textiles of native-grown cotton and other plant fibers. The traditions developed and were refined long before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. The Spanish brought their own complex techniques and wool-bearing sheep, providing a fiber that was more practical for weaving, warmth, and a variety of uses. Although the Native population continued their own techniques, they were encouraged to adopt the European-style treadle loom and the sheep’s wool to increase production for Spanish consumption. 

Although the exhibition primarily features Hispanic textiles, it also includes early examples of work by both Navajo and Pueblo weavers. Among the other rare textiles will be early Hispanic colonial examples, including Colchas, bed or wall coverings, and Ponchos for wearing. Also seen in the exhibition will be a few so-called “Slave blankets” that represent the cross-cultural textile influence seen uniquely in the American Southwest, as well as the works of contemporary Hispano master weavers. 

“Weaving the New World interprets amazing examples—many rarely exhibited—of the native styles but focuses on the region’s Hispanic textile heritage, which without the blending of the cultures would not have existed,” Koenig said. “The exhibition celebrates the rich textile traditions along the northern frontier that we call home.”