Introduction

Women of the Guatemalan highlands have for centuries been using handmade backstrap looms to weave cloth for apparel, yet no examples of Guatemalan textiles older than 200 years are thought to exist.  The Forsyth Center Galleries are fortunate to possess an exquisite collection of Guatemalan apparel dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and representing a significant cross-section of the more than 100 villages found in the Guatemalan highlands.