The Durango Collection®
Rio Grande: 1800-1920
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The Spanish land grant system in the early 1700’s stimulated sheep herding and wool production in the American Southwest and the Rio Grande valley. While textiles produced by Hispanic people in the Southwest show the influence of Saltillos serapes, these textiles were produced for the regional market, and to withstand the rigors of frontier life.
"Rio Grande" is the term commonly used to refer to the Spanish textile tradition of Colorado and New Mexico. These textiles are still being produced today, in workshops, as a home industry, and by master weavers. The Durango Collection’s® Rio Grande woven textiles include banded blankets, which were often made with alternating stripes of white, blue and brown, jerga, the term used for yardage, commonly produced for rugs and bedding, and more elaborately patterned textiles that show the influence of Saltillo serapes in their use of central medallions and the serrate diamond motif. |