The Hopi are very skilled weavers who use a vertical loom. They have woven mantas for women and girls to wear for centuries. (Mantas are textiles that are wider than they are tall). In making clothing for use during ceremonies, the Hopi utilized twill weave, which is among the most difficult techniques used in weaving. Kate Peck Kent wrote in her seminal book Pueblo Indian Textiles, “It is in the twill-weave …that the true technical virtuosity of historic Pueblo weavers shows to best advance. These skills can be traced directly back to the Pueblos’ Anasazi forebears, who had mastered a remarkable variety of twill techniques.” (Kent, Pueblo Indian Textiles, Studies in American Indian Art, 1983), p. 54.

This particular manta clearly has been used. With a white cotton center that has very fine diagonal twill, this manta has red-dyed wool bands twilled in diagonal twill and there are finishing borders at top and bottom twilled out of indigo-dyed wool with diagonal twill. Condition of the blanket is excellent with clear evidence of use in the patterning of light dirt in the center of the manta. Twill weave cannot be rewoven and it is remarkable that this piece has survived in this excellent condition.

Detailed information: The white area has 1 over 2 diagonal twill, the red area has 1 over 1 diagonal twill, and the blue area has herringbone twill. The weaving has natural cotton and synthetic and indigo-dyed wool areas.