Man's Sarape (Wearing Blanket)

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Textiles

1800–50

Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Produced in northern Mexico using a combination of Indigenous and foreign weaving materials and techniques, the man’s wearing blanket—also known as a sarape—was a highly valued and versatile garment. Wrapped around the body like a shawl or folded and draped over one shoulder, sarapes were also used as blankets and provided protection from the weather. Made with native, undyed, hand-spun cotton and dyed churro wool from imported sheep, sarapes are soft, light, strong, and warm. With their bold designs and brilliant colors, sarapes became a symbol of Mexican identity following the Mexican Revolution.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Man's Sarape (Wearing Blanket)
Place: Saltillo (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1800–1850
Medium: Cotton and wool, slit and single dovetail tapestry weave; edged with cotton, knotted fringe
Dimensions: Overall, with fringe: 232.4 × 111.1 cm (91 1/2 × 43 3/4 in.); Overall, without fringe: 197.5 × 111.1 cm (77 3/4 × 43 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Tiffany Blake
Reference Number: 1962.769
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/20210/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago, Folk Art Textiles from the Permanent Collection, Nov. 8, 1980-Mar. 1, 1981, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Mexican, Central, and South American Textiles: A Living Legacy, Oct. 28, 1992-Jan. 17, 1993.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Fabricating Fashion, Aug. 20, 2022–Jan. 2, 2023, no. cat.

Tiffany Blake (born Margaret Pinchon Day; 1875–1971), Chicago, by 1962 [incoming receipt RX4042, Oct. 3, 1962; copy in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1962.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.