Indian Blankets and Their Makers [1914 First Edition] [SOLD]

INDIAN BLANKETS AND THEIR MAKERS by George Wharton James

A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1914

Hardback, first edition, 1914

Profusely illustrated with black and white drawings and color plates of blankets

Condition: Good condition. The short title page has separated from the spine but all other pages are attached.  The cover is beginning to separate from the spine but is still secure.

From the Introduction:

“Prior to 1892, the modern Navaho blanket was almost unknown.  As I shall show in the chapter on the early history of the blanket, there were rare, fine, and wonderful blankets made early in the last century that today are the envy and desire of the collector, but it was not until after 1892 that the blanket began to be made on a large scale as a commercial article.  Then came a rapid deterioration of the art that was as unnecessary as it was lamentable and regrettable, for it gave crude, thick, coarse, degraded specimens of blanketry to the world and thus worked the art long-time detriment and injury.  But, like many another evil, it grew to such proportions that it became its own slayer.

 “Out of the mere instinct of self-preservation the Indian trader sprang into the breach he himself had made and refused to buy the inferior specimens of the loom, for, as no one would buy them, they remained as dead and unprofitable stock on his shelves.  The result is that, today, as fine blankets are being woven as were ever produced in the palmist days of the art, and among the nearly million dollars’ worth of blankets the United States Government officials report as the product of the Navaho looms in 1913, there are scores, nay hundreds, and perhaps thousands, that would be the pride of any trained and expert collector, or grace the hall, den, library, or bedroom of the most fastidious, exacting, and artistic housewife in the land.”

Table of Contents

I.        Where Navaho Blankets Are Made. Navaho Houses and Their Songs of Blessing

II.       The Birth and Growth of the Art of Navaho Blanket-Weaving

III.      The Early History of the Navaho Blanket

IV.       The Bayeta Blanket of the Navaho

V.        Old Style Native Wool Blankets

VI.       Navaho and Pueblo Squaw Dresses

VII.      The Song of Blessing of the Blanket

VIII.     The Temporary Deterioration of the Art of Navaho Blanket Weaving

IX.       Improving the Art of Navaho Blanket Weaving

X.        The Significance and Symbolism of Color in the Navaho Blanket

XI.       Dying with Native and Aniline Dyes

XII.      The Origin and Symbolism of Navaho Blanket Designs

XIII.     A Navaho Weaver at Work

XIV.      The Designs on Modern Navaho Blankets

XV.       Navaho and Pueblo Belts, Garters, and Hair Bands

XVI.      The Outline Blanket

XVII.     Kachina or Yei Blankets

XVIII.    The Classification of Modern Blankets

XIX.      Imitation Navaho Blankets

XX.       Pueblo Indian Weavers

XXI.      The Chimayó Blanket

XXII.     Cleaning the Navaho Blanket