El Galeon de Manila
Title
El Galeon de Manila
Holding Institution
Provenance Information
H7514, H7515, LH497, LH972, LH2364, LH2385
Date Created
n.d.
Format
textile
REDC Region
Notes
Hispanic Society of America (HSA) has one of the most important collections of Hispanic textiles both nationally and internationally. The Manton de Manila (the Manila shawl) carry great artistic value and cultural symbolism and are extremely labor intensive, embroidered entirely by hand. Their global plurality can be found from the “pashminas” in India’s subcontinent to silk Somalian’s “sarongs” or the wool “babushkas” from the Ukraine. The Nahuatls in Oaxaca, to this day; birth, carry and use “rebozos” as a vital tool for motherhood. Shawls are cherished and passed down from generation to generation and now a staple and are common articles of fashion in the immigrant, Latin American communities that we serve. They are a square seamless silk textile, with rich silk (and sometimes metallic) embroidery and fringes that usually include macrame. They were and are still worn on special occasions, used as a flag on balconies during various festivals, and features as part of the flamenco dance costume. They were also placed on furniture, including pianos, for display, which gained them the name of “piano shawls”.
The Manton de Manila is an object that is central to the material culture of the Hispanic world. It is a large square silk shawl embroidered in silk, with a silk fringe with a macrame section added along the edge. The shawl evolved stylistically from the abundant Chinese embroidered textiles brought to the Americas and Europe via the Manila Galleon. Under the control of the Spanish empire, from the later sixteenth century through the early nineteenth Manila developed as a prominent hub of global commerce. Silk, from undyed yarn to embroidered pieces, was the primary commodity transported via the Galleon, through Acapulco, onwards to Spain. Chinese production of embroidered silks for export was centered in Canton. Over time designs were more and more adapted to the customers’ European taste, thus some of the traditional Chinese motifs such as dragons were dropped in favor of the predominantly floral designs, often including birds as well as stylized oriental scenes with gardens, pagodas and people.
From the end of the eighteenth century European fashion embraced shawls, including the Manton de Manila, peaking in the early to mid-nineteenth century, then dwindling towards its end. However, in Spain, the manton transitioned to lower classes, including gypsies and flamenco dancers, becoming an accessory associated with Andalusia but worn widely as part of the local costume in other parts of Spain, as far as Galicia. The manton is also known to have been part of a costume of women working in the tobacco factories in the second half of the nineteenth century, called “the cigarreras”, of which the most famous (and infamous) one was Carmen, the heroine of Merimee’s drama.
The mantones in the collection of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library are dated between 1800 and 1920s, offering a wide range of embroidery styles and structural variations for research and exhibition. Technically, the manton is significant as an object of needle art that undergoes cultural adaptation and transformation, absorbing influences from China, Latin America and Spain. Further study is needed to gain a better understanding of the materials and motifs employed in the creation of the mantones and the specific cultural shifts that they reflect. The manton is also significant as an inherited object within a family, an object that increases in value as it is passed on from generation to generation or taken overseas and becomes a carrier and ambassador of family history as well as national identity. Many of the mantones in the collection have been donated by immigrants or their families in hopes of preserving their story and their cultural background within a museum setting. Having this collection cared for and displayed in New York helps recognize the diversity of the people who have made New York their home, past generations and present. At the same time, the manton bears testimony to the global trade history as well as a cultural and artistic interchange, all of which have been fostered in New York. Finally, the manton is both static and dynamic: static in that is a type of accessory, with its rules of composition and technique, and dynamic as it lends itself to inspire modern needle artists of various ethnic backgrounds
The Manton de Manila is an object that is central to the material culture of the Hispanic world. It is a large square silk shawl embroidered in silk, with a silk fringe with a macrame section added along the edge. The shawl evolved stylistically from the abundant Chinese embroidered textiles brought to the Americas and Europe via the Manila Galleon. Under the control of the Spanish empire, from the later sixteenth century through the early nineteenth Manila developed as a prominent hub of global commerce. Silk, from undyed yarn to embroidered pieces, was the primary commodity transported via the Galleon, through Acapulco, onwards to Spain. Chinese production of embroidered silks for export was centered in Canton. Over time designs were more and more adapted to the customers’ European taste, thus some of the traditional Chinese motifs such as dragons were dropped in favor of the predominantly floral designs, often including birds as well as stylized oriental scenes with gardens, pagodas and people.
From the end of the eighteenth century European fashion embraced shawls, including the Manton de Manila, peaking in the early to mid-nineteenth century, then dwindling towards its end. However, in Spain, the manton transitioned to lower classes, including gypsies and flamenco dancers, becoming an accessory associated with Andalusia but worn widely as part of the local costume in other parts of Spain, as far as Galicia. The manton is also known to have been part of a costume of women working in the tobacco factories in the second half of the nineteenth century, called “the cigarreras”, of which the most famous (and infamous) one was Carmen, the heroine of Merimee’s drama.
The mantones in the collection of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library are dated between 1800 and 1920s, offering a wide range of embroidery styles and structural variations for research and exhibition. Technically, the manton is significant as an object of needle art that undergoes cultural adaptation and transformation, absorbing influences from China, Latin America and Spain. Further study is needed to gain a better understanding of the materials and motifs employed in the creation of the mantones and the specific cultural shifts that they reflect. The manton is also significant as an inherited object within a family, an object that increases in value as it is passed on from generation to generation or taken overseas and becomes a carrier and ambassador of family history as well as national identity. Many of the mantones in the collection have been donated by immigrants or their families in hopes of preserving their story and their cultural background within a museum setting. Having this collection cared for and displayed in New York helps recognize the diversity of the people who have made New York their home, past generations and present. At the same time, the manton bears testimony to the global trade history as well as a cultural and artistic interchange, all of which have been fostered in New York. Finally, the manton is both static and dynamic: static in that is a type of accessory, with its rules of composition and technique, and dynamic as it lends itself to inspire modern needle artists of various ethnic backgrounds
Citation
“El Galeon de Manila,” Flipping The Narrative, accessed February 10, 2025, https://flippingthenarrative.omeka.net/items/show/6.