Panama Hat Weaver, Ecuador
by Al Bourassa
Title
Panama Hat Weaver, Ecuador
Artist
Al Bourassa
Medium
Photograph - Photographic Artworks
Description
Knarled hands weaving straw with lightning speed and dexterity. Yes, this is a task still done by hand to make many items, including Panama hats which are actually made in Ecuador.
A Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the Carludovica palmata plant, known locally as the toquilla palm or jipijapa palm, although it is a palm-like plant rather than a true palm.
Panama hats are light-colored, lightweight, and breathable, and often worn as accessories to summer-weight suits, such as those made of linen or silk. Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, panamas began to be associated with the seaside and tropical locales.
The art of weaving the traditional Ecuadorian toquilla hat was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists on 6 December 2012. Panama hat is an Intangible Cultural Heritage, a term used to define practices, traditions, knowledge and skills communities pass down from generation to generation as part of their cultural heritage.
Beginning in the early to mid-1600’s hat weaving evolved as a cottage industry all along the Ecuadorian coast. Hat weaving and wearing grew steadily in Ecuador through the 17th and 18th centuries. Even then, the best quality hats were being made in what is now the province of Manabí. Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe, subsequently acquiring a name that reflected their point of international sale, "Panama hats", rather than their place of domestic origin. The term was being used by at least 1834.
The popularity of the hats was increased in the mid-nineteenth century by the miners of the California Gold Rush, who frequently traveled to California via the Isthmus of Panama. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States visited the construction site of the Panama Canal, and was photographed wearing a Panama hat, which further increased the hats' popularity. The hats were later worn by many early-twentieth century film stars during films.
Nowadays, the art seems only to be practised by the oldest artisans, and the hats sell retail from $20 - $70 generally, so it is not really a profitable work to reward ratio.
This digitally altered artwork is derived from a photograph taken Apr 15/15 in Gualaceo, Ecuador, South America nestled in the Andes Mountains.
NOTE that the Fine Art America watermark will NOT appear on any purchased product.
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I do hope you enjoy my work.
Comments are graciously accepted.
Favoring is greatly appreciated.
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Uploaded
March 15th, 2016
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