Navajo Nation Crystal Trading Post Rug, circa 1920s [SOLD]

This rug from Crystal Trading Post displays an unusual use of the brown wool by the weaver’s choice of alternating shades of brown.  It is very subtle, but if examined closely, one can determine that the weaver used a half dozen or so rows of dark brown, then a half dozen or so rows of a lighter shade of brown, alternating throughout the textile.  This was carried out on the border and the brown wool in the interior design.  It gives life and interest to what could have been a lot of dark brown wool.  Her choice to alternate rows of shades of brown was ingenious and artistic.

The interior design starts with a soft yellow field which is overlaid by white diamonds.  Each white diamond contains another diamond in colors varying throughout the textile.  Each of the white diamonds is surrounded by brown stepped triangles.  

The weave is tightly woven from native wool that was spun very thin.  The textile is suitable as a wall hanging or a floor rug.  The original intent, in the 1920s, was for use as a floor rug. 

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Navajo Nation Crystal Trading Post Rug, circa 1920s is from the estate of a resident of Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: OLD NAVAJO RUGS Their Development from 1900 to 1940 by Marian Rodee

Relative Links: textiles, Navajo Nation