A large and unusual Navajo weaving
Borderless and modeled after classic period blankets, designed in an artful array of banding and overlaid diamonds and zigzags.
size approximately 9ft 3in x 7ft
size approximately 9ft 3in x 7ft
Estimate:
US$ 15,000 - 25,000
£10,000 - 17,000
€12,000 - 19,000
£10,000 - 17,000
€12,000 - 19,000
Footnotes
- Provenance:
Greg LaChapelle, Santa Fe; purchased from the Wetherill family, prominent Colorado ranchers: Richard Wetherill, in 1888, was the first outsider to discover the Cliff Palace ruins at Mesa Verde. The family excavated there for some years and later homesteaded land in the area including Pueblo Bonito, the most extant ancient ruins in North America, only relinquishing title in 1907 when President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it a national monument.
The aesthetics in this weaving are clearly inspired by earlier, classic Navajo serapes and wearing blankets. It could well have been a product of the Crystal Trading Post run by famed Indian trader J.B. Moore, who published catalogues for a mail-order business of Southwest Native art forms. To view a prototype for the design see Moore, J.B., 1987 (reprinted), p. 16, plate II, and p. 11 for a description of this example in his inventory: "A rather wider range of sizes, and more extensive collection of these. Range from 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 feet up to 8 x 11 1/2 feet. Some of the very finest weaves, and will stand any amount of service. Pattern, a reproduction of an old time one not made within recent years."
(written circa 1903).
Category: Ethnographic Art / Native American
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