antique native american rugs

The major exceptions to this rule, however, were weavings that portrayed Yeis, or Navajo Holy People, and weavings that recreated sacred ceremonial sand paintings. A small number of weavers made Sand Painting Rugs as early as the 1890s in the area around Two Grey Hills. Most famously, the medicine man Hosteen Klah made a series of sand painting rugs with the help of his mother and nieces between 1919 and 1936. Nevertheless, sand painting rugs were very rare before the 1960s when weavers in the Ganado area began producing them in larger numbers. Although they are not sacred objects in themselves, rugs showing sacred sandpainting images have always been somewhat controversial within the Navajo community, and many weavers still decline to make such representations. Yei pattern rugs feature images of the Holy People drawn from ceremonial sand paintings but do not recreate an entire painting.

Today, Navajo blankets can be bought for as low $500 as several thousand dollars. Prices will vary depending on how large, old, tightness and intricate the design. Navajo rugs can be very expensive due to the high quality of their wool and outstanding craftsmanship. A Navajo rug’s price is determined by its tightness, size, condition, dye used, and condition. Navajo rugs cost anywhere from $100 to a few hundred dollars. In the early 1800s, Navajo woman began to weave chief’s blankets. The blankets were so well-received that Indians could wear them from the border of Mexico to the northern Great Plains. These blankets weren't a badge for chieftainship. However, they were a symbol of power as well as wealth. A number of factors affect the price of a Navajo rugs. These include its size, age, quality, weaving, style, used dyes, and current condition. Navajo rugs cost anywhere from $100 for a smaller rug to several thousands for a large, old one.

Another way to check the authenticity of the Navajo rug is to look for lazy lines. Lazy lines appear as a diagonal line in the weave of the fabric. During the weaving process, the rug maker would move to work on adjacent sections of the warp, resulting in the subtle diagonal lines referred to as lazy lines. These lines would be almost impossible to detect by looking at a photograph of the rug online.