Women of the Guatemalan highlands have for centuries been using handmade backstrap looms to weave cloth for apparel, yet no examples of Guatemalan textiles older than 200 years are thought to exist.  The Forsyth Center Galleries are fortunate to possess an exquisite collection of Guatemalan apparel dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and representing a significant cross-section of the more than 100 villages found in the Guatemalan highlands.

The textiles included in this exhibition are part of the MSCC Collection and are cared for by the Forsyth Center Galleries.  The textiles were a gift from Harwood K. Smith (’35) and his wife, Kate.   Mr. and Mrs. Smith had spent many years in Guatemala making friends with many native Guatemalans and ex-patriot Americans.  During their time in Guatemala, the Smiths developed a strong appreciation for, and an understanding of, traditional Maya clothing.  One of the Smith’s American friends in Guatemala was Henry DuFlon, who had lived in Guatemala for twenty years and who had become an expert collector of Maya textiles.  In the 1980s, Mr. and Mrs. Smith began acquiring pieces for the MSCC Collection from the Du Flon collection and from the collections of other connoisseurs.  In the 1990s, they gave a gift of these textiles to the MSCC Art Collection in the name of Mr. and Mrs. Harwood K. Smith ('35) and in the name of their grand-daughter, Shannon Strother Womble (91).