Churro Wool 19th Century Rio Grande Blanket [SOLD]

The Navajo and Pueblo Indians were weaving clothing of home grown cotton when the Spaniards arrived in 1598.  Oñate and his followers brought sheep but no looms, an indication that the sheep were for food, not clothing.  The Spanish settlers bargained for locally woven goods from Navajo and Pueblo weavers.

By 1800, the Spaniards were weaving with wool but it was more a cottage industry than an economic factor.

The Spanish government in Mexico recognized the potential of weaving as an economic benefit so it commissioned the Bazán brothers—Ygnacio Ricardo and Juan—residents of Puebla, Mexico, to go to Nuevo Mexico to teach weaving.  Ygnacio had two young sons, so the four Bazán males were provided with two horses, three pack mules, a guide, two blunderbusses, two sabers and a musket for the trip up the Camino Real to Santa Fe, the City of the Holy Faith.

The high esteem regarded the weavers in Mexico was evident in the commission contract with words like “Artisan,” “Art” and “Weaver” capitalized.  Ygnacio was referred to as Maestro and Juan as oficia.  The Bazáns were successful in teaching the villagers.  Ygnacio stayed in New Mexico after his official duties ended.

From this beginning developed the “Rio Grande Blanket.”  Spanish weaving techniques differed from those of the Navajo and Pueblo weavers.  The Spanish loom was horizontal with limited and fixed width.  Pueblo and Navajo looms were vertical and could be any height and any width, made to fit the size of the object to be woven.

The Spanish looms produced a blanket approximately two feet wide.  The matching panels were woven and stitched together.  That procedure persisted into the 20^th century.

This striped Rio Grande blanket dates to 1850-1860.  The warp was made from natural brown Churro wool and the weft from white and brown Churro wool.  This banded style is similar in design to the Navajo First Phase Chief blanket style but there probably was no intent by the weaver to copy a Navajo blanket style. 

Condition: the blanket is in remarkable condition for its age.  It has just been professionally washed.

Provenance: this Churro Wool 19th Century Rio Grande Blanket is from a gentleman in Albuquerque

Reference and Recommended Reading: Wonders of the Weavers: Maravillas de los tejedores: Nineteenth-Century Rio Grande Weavings from the Collection of The Albuquerque Museum