Rio Grande Textiles celebrates the vibrant and distinctive art form present in the Spanish communities of New Mexico and southern Colorado since European importation of the loom to the Rio Grande Valley some 400 years ago. The region's weavers evolved the distinctive styles and patterns found in Saltillo and Vallero blankets, weft ikat, handspun cotton blankets, jerga floor coverings, and colcha embroidery.

In 1984, while studying textiles in the collections of the School of American Research, Kate Peck Kent discovered a manuscript on Spanish-American weaving by the late H.P. Mera, curator of archaeology at Santa Fe's Lab of Anthropology. This forgotten manuscript describes the origin and history of the distinctive textiles woven by Spanish-Americans in New Mexico.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1976. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived