Leather Jacket (Cuera or Cota)
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1700 - 1850
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Short cuera or leather jacket, composed of five pieces of soft tanned buckskin sewn together in three sections, one back and two side pieces; sleeveless, as were both the short and long jackets of this type.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Cueras were a type of under protective garment originally worn by the Spanish during the 16th, 17th, 18th, and first half of the 19th centuries on the Northern frontiers of Mexico and including the provinces of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. As a rule, they were made by the individual owners or, as in the case of California, manufactured at the missions, along with leather shields (see CL.175188). They were made in two general sizes: one short and one long, which protected a man from his neck to mid-thigh. They were made from five to seven thicknesses of deerskin and on some of the armor were square collars which could be drawn up to protect the back of the head and neck from Indian arrows. At this time these cueras were quilted in lozenge-shaped patterns secured by leather buttons or rawhide which held all the sides together; also some cueras were bound around the arms holes and along the edges with a green or blue narrow cotton tape. The men who wore these were known as soldados de cuera, or jacket soldiers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Mexico
label: place used
content: Mexico
topic: label: Subject
content: Hispanics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ethnic
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CL.175189
label: catalog number
content: 175189
label: accession number
content: 29421
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Vest
label: Object Name
content: jacket
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (buckskin) (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 60 in x 22 in x 2 in; 152.4 cm x 55.88 cm x 5.08 cm