A Classic Saltillo Serape with a White Field, Northern Mexico, circa 1800.

The serape measures 98 inches long by 50 inches wide, as woven, on a floor loom, in two vertical mirror-image panels.

Illustrated as Plate XVI in Jeter and Juelke, The Saltillo Serape, 1978.

The majority of classic (pre-1800) Saltillo serapes were woven with blue fields, red fields, or white fields. On rare occasions, classic Saltillo serapes were woven with aubergine or purple fields. In the best classic Saltillos with white fields, the central diamond appears to float against the white field, creating an illusion of depth between the serape’s foreground and background elements.

In this classic Saltillo, the red yarns are handspun wool dyed in the yarn with cochineal. The blue yarns are handspun wool dyed in the yarn with indigo. The white yarns are un-dyed handspun wool.