Woven trunk (petaca)

Set within a matrix of elaborate scrollwork and grapevines, the images on this trunk suggest life in colonial Mexico.The craftsman who embroidered this trunk, as well as the blacksmith who forged and ornamented the iron mounts, was highly skilled and created a sophisticated and beautiful composition. The "petaca" (from Aztec "petacalli," meaning “a trunk made from woven cane”) retains many of its pre-Hispanic elements, both in its basic structure and in its stitched decoration of agave fiber thread.