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navajo rugs
Are you attracted to the beauty and craftsmanship of Navajo rugs but confused by all the terminology being thrown around in the galleries? Here’s a brief history of Navajo weaving that will help you sort out the most common terms, and give you a head start when you venture out to shop for these fascinating examples of Native American art. The Navajo (Dine [dih-NEH] in their own language) are Athabascan-speaking people who migrated to the Southwest from Canada in about the 15th century. Navajo women learned weaving in the mid-1600s from their Pueblo Indian neighbors who had been growing and weaving cotton since about 800 AD. Spanish settlers had brought their Churro sheep to the region in the early 1600s and introduced the Navajo to wool.
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J. Sublette, Navajo textile expert. Mark Sublette explains the reasons why Navajo blankets have such a high value. It boils down to three factors: rarity, scarcity, and artistry. Navajo blankets, an older version of Navajo weavings that were made between 1840-1890, are an older type. These textiles were soft and drapable and could be wrapped around the body to be worn. They are commonly called "wearing blankets". Note: Saddle blankets are a smaller, thicker type, but they don't have the same value as a wearing blanket. Even at their peak production, Navajo weavings proved difficult to find. It took a weaver as long as a year to create a blanket, not counting the time it took to raise the sheep to make the wool.
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J.Sublette, Navajo textile authority, explains why Navajo blankets are so valuable. Mark Sublette explains how Navajo blankets can be so valuable. The three main factors that make Navajo blankets so valuable are scarcity and rarity. Navajo blankets were an older form of Navajo weavings. They were produced between 1840-1890. These textiles could be wrapped around your body and worn, and were soft and drapable. While saddle blankets are more collectible than a wearing blanket, they are not as expensive. Even at peak production, Navajo weavings weren't easy to find. A blanket can take up to one year to weave, not counting the time required to raise the sheep and make the wool.

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Another way to check the authenticity of the Navajo rug is to look for lazy lines. Lazy lines appear as a diagonal line in the weave of the fabric. During the weaving process, the rug maker would move to work on adjacent sections of the warp, resulting in the subtle diagonal lines referred to as lazy lines. These lines would be almost impossible to detect by looking at a photograph of the rug online.
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These are small, loosely woven, pictorial mats meant for the tourist trade and woven in Gallup, New Mexico. They were small, inexpensive and easy to transport, making them popular souvenirs for visits to the Navajo Nation. Gentle scrubbing continues. Note the wringer in the background-the next step in the washing process after rinsing. After thorough rinsing, the rug is sent slowly and carefully through the wringer to take out as much of the water as possible before being hung on racks in the drying room. Learn all about antique Native American Art while having fun! Joining Red Mesa Gallery News gets you your Navajo Rug checklist, monthly updates, offers and promotions re all things antique native american art. Quit anytime!


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From the 1880s through the 1930s, reservation traders were the Navajos’ primary contact with the outside world. As such, they also were the weavers’ primary-or even sole-customers. Therefore traders exercised significant influence on weavings simply by paying more for the designs, sizes, colors, and qualities they wanted. Of course, trader’s choices were driven by what they thought they could sell to their off-reservation customers, but they also were guided by their own aesthetic sensibilities. As a result, distinctive styles of rugs emerged around several trading posts in the first years of the twentieth century. Such combinations of pattern and color are known as Regional Styles and are typically named after the trading post that encouraged their production.
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Also called a serape, this blanket was made during the tribe’s internment in eastern New Mexico in 1865. Woven in rich reds, the piece is striking as much for its color as for the bordered design. Red was extremely hard to come by then, especially by the Native Americans. Their way around this was to unravel machine made rugs, and re-weave the thread into their own designs. But this design is also rare, and shows the growing intrusion of the outside world not on just the Navajo culture, but their art as well. Notice the partial borders at the blanket’s four corners. Bordered textiles were a popular theme of the time, picked up from the detailing seen on exotic Oriental rugs. Their use here suggests the weavers had seen such rugs – though most likely through photographs – and copied the style.
