Diné (Navajo) Wool Chief Pattern Pictorial Rug [SOLD]

This Navajo pictorial rug was woven in the traditional saddle blanket size.  The background was designed in the style of a Third Phase Chief Blanket which was then overlaid with full images of a ram and a sheep.  The weave is loose in saddle blanket style.  Dark blue yarn was used as indigo would have been used in the past.

Note from Chuck Rosenak:  The rug with two rams is by Fannie Pete.  A similar rug depicting a horse is currently on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington D.C.  The Pete sisters live in Gallegos Canyon, near Bloomfield, New Mexico.  Their rugs are featured in our books because they still make a few rugs I the traditional way.  I don’t remember about this one.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the personal collection of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, collectors and authors of Navajo folk art.

Recommended Reading: Pictorial Weavings of the Navajo by Nancy Schiffer