A Rare and Early Pueblo Man’s Shirt

Hopi or Zuni

1750 - 1850 | Wool | Item 1100

This is a rare and early shirt. The date is conjectured, as there are few of them existing in this form and this degree of fineness. The small size also suggests an earlier date. There is significant moth damage and the deeper, inner, exposed yarn is a lighter indigo blue in contrast to the external darker indigo. These shirts were typically over dyed countless times in an effort to freshen them up, similar to the woman’s mantas. When this shirt was cleaned, a river of indigo colored water was seen to flow out of the shirt for a long period, representing the over dyed indigo that never penetrated the fine yarns. It’s possible that the original color of this shirt was a significantly lighter indigo blue. Condition is fair with significant moth damage and a few areas of larger holes.

Finely woven with hand spun white yarn dyed with indigo in a diagonal twill. The body of the shirt is woven like a tunic and opens up as a single piece (51” by 21”). There are hills and valleys at each end. The tunic has an opening for the head in the center (8.5” by 3”) with a rolled edge. The sleeves are woven as a single, trapezoidal piece (19” by 16”) and are folded over to form the sleeve and match the tunic in the fineness of the diagonal twill. Each sleeve has hills and valleys at each end to match the tunic. The shoulder end of the sleeve has 5 hills, and the cuff end has 3 hills.