DepartmentTextiles-Hispano
Hooked Rug
NameHooked Rug
Artist
Celso Gallegos
(1864 - 1943)
CultureHispano
DateLate 1920s–early 1930s
Place madeAgua Fria, NEW MEXICO, United States, Southwest, North America
MediumWool, burlap (likely jute)
Dimensions36 1/4 × 63 × 3/8 in. (92 × 160 × 1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary Cabot Wheelwright, gift of Historical Society of New Mexico, Museum of International Folk Art (A5.1954.8)
Object numberA5.1954.8
Collections
Celso Gallegos lived in the village of Agua Fria, just west of Santa Fe and was a devout man from rural Northern New Mexico who innovated older traditions and experimented with new ideas, materials, and artistic forms. He achieved wide acclaim in his lifetime, likely due to his close proximity to Santa Fe, his preferred medium of woodcarving, and his promotion by the newly formed Spanish Colonial Arts Society.
Today, Gallegos is best known as a santero. He won first prize for santo carving at the inaugural Spanish Market held in 1926. However, he also created textiles. A profile published by El Pasatiempo on September 5, 1931 reported that Gallegos had “developed an amusing line of embroideries in colored yarns, on burlap, using his favorite figures of animals and saints.” These textiles were created with materials supplied by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society and sold through its shop at Sena Plaza in Santa Fe. For this textile, Gallegos adapted a rug hooking technique more commonly used in the eastern United States, a sign of the Southwest’s increasing cultural integration into the nation.
Artist not recorded
ca. 1680-1700
