Navajo Nation Rug from the Ganado Area [SOLD]

Lorenzo Hubbell’s trading post at *Ganado, Arizona, was a major source of textiles during the early part of the twentieth century, partly because Albert Schweitzer, buyer for the Fred Harvey Company, partnered with Hubbell to provide most of the rugs sold by the Company.  That probably helped Hubbell get a successful start in the business.  

A successful business tactic that Hubbell employed was to sell rugs to various businesses throughout the United States and he would accept any back in return after a year if they had not sold.  Hubbell studied the textiles that were returned and analyzed the reasoning behind their return.  He used the public’s buying preferences to determine if the returned ones were colors or designs not acceptable.  He then told his weavers not to use those colors or designs again.  His returns declined over time.

By the 1940s, Hubbell had defined the Ganado rug style—black, brown, grey, white, and red predominated.  That style has continued today.

This rug is a more recent one, probably from the turn of the last century.  It has a central large black diamond with a red interior design.  On the four corners are designs generally accepted as representing the four sacred mountains of the Navajo Reservation.  All the interior designs are outlined in white.  The interior designs float on a light brown field, achieved by carding dark brown sheep wool with white wool.  The inner border is a deep red enclosing a zigzag continuous line.  The red was achieved by aniline dye.  The other colors of the textile are undyed natural wool colors.

*Ganado Chapter, also known as Lok’aah niteel in Navajo means Wide patch of reed, is an official certified chapter of the Navajo Nation government under the Local Governance Act and is recognized as a “secondary growth” center within the Navajo Nation.  (A chapter is both a rural community and a unit of local government in the Navajo Nation.) It is in Apache County, Arizona, and part of the Fort Defiance Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Condition: very good condition with a single warp thread broken on one corner.

Provenance: this Navajo Nation Rug from the Ganado Area is  from a gentleman in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: One Hundred Years of Navajo Rugs by Marian E. Rodee