Related Information: Article by Yosi Anaya of University of Veracruz, Mexico.

"What characterizes the Nahua blouses of Cholula-Atlixco-Puebla Valley region and further south are the pleats at the front and back, as well as the embroidery outlining the squares under the sleeves. These two form important decorative elements in the Valley of Puebla blouses.

"This particular blouse has intense 'pepenado' (smocking produced by embroidery) at the sleeves and also in the lace-type of ‘olán' outlining the neckline and below the central embroidered panel. The 'chaquira' beadwork has been produced to be used on gala occasions. Blouses from the Coast in the Gulf to Central Mexico are mostly Nahua and Otomí. These too are worked with imported glass beads, often in combination with thread embroidery, since the early 19th century and possibly earlier. It is worth mentioning that blouses of this type, especially the beaded ones, were used in the China Poblana costumes, alongside elegant silk rebozos.

"I have studied several beaded blouses in collections at the Museo de Antropología, the Luis Marquez Collection, the Banco Serfín and the Universidad Veracruzana. The collection at the Universidad Veracruzana, which I know best, contains two beaded specimens, also Nahua, from the Sierra de Chicontepec. Floral motifs and birds are its central motifs. Yet the Veracruz blouses do not have the 'pepenado,' 'olanes,' pleating, nor embroidery under the sleeves that this blouse has; thus, being much simpler in this sense.

"In La Magia de los Hilos: arte y tradición en el textil de Veracruz, (Beauregard, L., L. Aquino and Y. Anaya, published by Univeracruzana 1995-6) we mention the different cuts and patterns of the Veracruz blouses, of which the majority are Nahua, Totonaca and Tepehua. Several pages of blouses from the collection are included in the book. See pages 82, 84-85 and 84-87.

"In this Cholula blouse, although the motifs at the shoulders seem more European, the patterns at the edges of the sleeves and central panels and also the smaller rivets, show the more native influence such as the 'grecas' (friezes), deer and small trees of life. Most probably because of the Charrería tradition in Central Mexico which highlighted the China Poblana originally from the Puebla region, these blouses are more complex in pattern and patterning than the 'mountain' blouses of the Huasteca, Totonacapam and Sierra de Puebla."

Yosi Anaya
University of Veracruz, Mexico