Blanket or Rug
Navajo (Diné) (Ganado region, Arizona, United States)
c. 1900 (Transitional Period)
- Medium
- Wool, dovetailed tapestry weave; twined edges; corner knotted tassel; two selvages present
- Classification
- Textile
- Dimensions
- 218.5 × 140.5 cm (86 × 55 1/4 in.); Warp repeat: H.: 104 cm (41 in.)
- Culture
- Arizona
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Textiles
- Credit line
- Gift of Joseph W. Fell
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This blanket or rug displays many of the characteristics of Navajo weavings made at the turn of the previous century. During this period, Navajo artists were working in an increasingly commercial environment, with many of their weavings destined for non-Indian buyers for display in their homes. Weavers also could sell their work through traders who would make suggestions on colors and designs in response to market trends. The design of this work is bold and straightforward, presenting two interlocking medallions running vertically down the central axis, framed by double interlocking fencing. The artist used limited color palette that is a striking departure from the Navajo weavers' earlier vibrant "Eye Dazzler" blankets.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
