Cotton Pillow Shams – Handmade in Larrainzar, Chiapas

Cotton Pillow Shams from Chiapas

Authentic and much-loved Mexican handmade cotton pillow shams are now available to you. Handmade entirely from cotton, they are a treasure that can now be yours.

The Larrainzar handmade cotton pillow shams are square in shape, with an approximate size of 43×43 centimetres and a weight of about 150 grams each. The cushion filling can be inserted through the back of the cover, as it has a flap-shaped opening.

These cotton pillow shams are made entirely of cotton. The base is woven on a backstrap loom and then the Chiapanecan artisans embroider the different symbols in coloured cotton thread. The result is a 100% handmade cushion with the best material. They are beautiful pieces full of symbolism. These Mexican handmade shams will fill your home with authenticity and the colourfulness of the Mayan culture.

You can find more Mexican handmade cushions made of white cotton in San Andrés Larrainzar with the typical rhombus embroidery in this link. If you like the cotton bases in a different colour, you can also find them here. And if you are looking for hand-embroidered Mexican woollen cushions, visit this link.

Meaning of the embroidery on the Larrainzar handmade cotton pillow shams

The shams come from the community of Larrainzar. San Andres Larrainzar is a town in the highlands of Chiapas, the mountainous area in the central part of the State of Chiapas, Mexico. This town is known for the high quality of its handicrafts, where the symbol of the Mayan rhombus is omnipresent.

The traditional embroidery of Larrainzar features a rhombus composed of four concentric rhombuses surrounded by branches. This rhombus is present in the embroidery of the Mexican handmade cushions shown here. The meaning of these rhombuses is that of farmland and the process of sowing and germination of corn. The central points represent the sown grain and the outer branches represent the process of germination. The importance given to maize in Mayan culture, the basis of their diet, is remarkable.

Such is the importance of maize cultivation in Mayan culture that they understand the universe as a great cultivated land divided up for the different Mayan families, called milpas. Thus the 4 cardinal points appear and in the centre of the rhombus, the process of cultivating corn.

These cotton pillow shams have a white base. Do you already know what place they will occupy in your home?