Navajo Pictorial Weaving, 1880-1950: Folk Art Images of Native Americans [SOLD]

The one hundred seventy examples that illustrate this book comprise the most definitive survey of Navajo pictorial weaving yet published.  These works have been selected from hundreds of examples in museum and private collections as well as from major dealers in the field.

This book should be of interest to American folk art collectors even if not interested in Navajo weavings.  These examples are true American folk art at its finest.

NAVAJO PICTORIAL WEAVING 1880-1950

Folk Art Images of Native Americans

By Tyrone Campbell and Joel and Kate Kopp

Published by Dutton Studio Books, New York

First edition Hardback with slip cover, 1991. Illustrated in full color.

From the Jacket:

The history of Navajo weaving has been extremely well documented. First practiced by the Navajos in the seventeenth century, the craft has undergone a long series of stylistic developments. Although the weaving techniques of these Native Americans have remained essentially the same over the last three hundred years, the materials and motifs used have clearly changed as contact and trade with the Pueblo Indians, the Spanish, and later American settlers developed and expanded.

Navajo weaving has undergone a continuous evolution from wearing blankest to floor rugs, from simple striped designs to complex saltillos and eyedazzlers to regional designs inspired by Oriental carpets. The overwhelming interest by previous generations of scholars in the enormous breadth and complexity of geometric nonrepresentational rugs and blankets has resulted in limited documentation for Navajo pictorial weavings. This may be due in part to the fact that rugs and blankets based on pictorial images were made by a small number of women.

The one hundred seventy examples that illustrate this book comprise the most definitive survey of Navajo pictorial weaving yet published. These works have been selected from hundreds of examples in museum and private collections as well as from major dealers in the field.

Navajo pictorials should soon take their rightful place as an important category in the history of American folk art and Indian crafts. The anonymous Navajo women who created the pictorial weavings must be acknowledged for their independence of spirit and a true visual expression of their native character.